“We don’t deserve to be afraid every time it rains”

Pérez Llorca regretted that this Sunday was “a very complicated day” throughout the Valencian Community, with problems in the south of the province of Alicante, in some areas of Castellón and in La Ribera, with the southern coast of the province of Valencia on red alert. The “president” thanked the “hard” work of the firefighters and the Emergency Coordination Center.

“Yesterday all of us Valencians lived in fear of the rains that fell, looking at all the canals and ravines, because the work that should have been done or started from the dana has not yet started. Many of them are still in the project development phase,” he denounced.

Pérez Llorca affirmed that the hydraulic infrastructures “must be carried out as emergency works” and explained that, during his recent meeting with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, he told him “that they must be carried out legislative changes“which “allows this work to be treated as an emergency” because “the bureaucratic steps which are carried out within the framework of an ordinary procedure are not worth it”.

In this sense, he gave as an example the administrative simplification plan of the Generalitat, within which a new decree was approved on Friday, to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate “certain already useless laws” and that “things are undertaken more quickly”. He also stressed that, during the reconstruction after the damage of October 29, “the Generalitat Valenciana has carried out almost all its emergency works” and the bridges are “almost all built”.

The head of the Consell warned that so that Valencians do not live “in fear”, it is necessary that “these works that never start“These projects that last for many years, both in the Poyo ravine and in Magro, La Saleta and Barxeta, are being accelerated and implemented.”

“We will follow the path we must follow”

“We will demand it every day,” assured Pérez Llorca, and “we will take the necessary path to demand that these safety works be carried out for all Valencians.”

To the question of whether a deadline has been set for taking legal action, he stressed that “at that time, the one who must demand the deadlines for the works is the Spanish Government” and that the joint commission between the two administrations must meet, set the deadlines, “and based on what is established in this mixed commission” and the definition of the actions and procedures with which they are carried out, the decision will be taken.

Finally, Pérez Llorca explained that the vice presidents of the Generalitat Susana Camarero and Vicente Martínez Mus will also visit the affected areas this Monday and that “damage control” will be carried out, although they do not yet have data on losses in agriculture.

“A nightmare”

In the same spirit, the mayor of Carcaixent, Caroline Alminana, justified “the work of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Mota Cúllar and the diversion of the Barxeta, so that it is not a nightmare every time an alert is decreed”. The first mayor indicated that it was “a very complicated day in Carcaixent and also in Cogullada”. “More water came in with great force than ever before in life,” he said.

The mayor recalled that in the city, on October 11, there were also torrential rains which “collapsed the entire sewer system” and asked for “infrastructure capable of minimizing the risks”. “I understand that the bureaucratic and administrative process is brutal, I manage a city, I know that tenders and awarding are expensive, but here, in principle, the works have already been awarded and it is a matter of urgency,” he added.

The Consell is deployed in the municipalities concerned

Also the vice-presidents of the Consell, Susana Camarero, José Díez and Vicente Martínez Mus They visited different municipalities in the province of Valencia to analyze the impacts of the rainstorm, learn about the needs of their citizens and demand that the Spanish government provide hydraulic infrastructure that minimizes climate risks.

The heads of the Generalitat visited the municipalities of Torrent, La Pobla Llarga, Carlet, Rafelguaraf, Algemesí, Guadassuar, Benimodo, Riba-roja del Túria, Chiva and Paterna, municipalities which join Barxeta, L’Alcudia and Carcaixent and which received the visit of the president, Pérez Llorca.

Concretely, the First Vice-President and Minister of Housing, Employment, Youth and Equality, Susana Camarero, visited the Horteta and Poyo ravines passing through the municipality of Torrent, where she complained to the Central Executive about the unrealized works that the area needs.

The vice president also visited Rafelguaraf and La Pobla Llarga, the last town where 38 residents had to be evicted from their homes as a preventive measure due to the rain and announced that “technicians from the Valencian Building Institute will analyze the structure of these properties to check the damage.”

For his part, the Second Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Díez, visited the municipalities of Carlet, Algemesí, Guadassuar and Benimodo to meet the mayors of these villages and learn the degree of impact of the storm and the needs of these localities.

José Díez stressed that it is “important to be on the ground and in contact with neighbors to be able to have a real dimension of what is happening.” In this sense, he added that “the neighbor must also have this feeling of support and accompaniment from administrations and institutions.”

Temporary works in the industrial zones of Riba-roja

For his part, the third vice president and Minister of Environment, Infrastructure, Territory and Recovery, Vicente Martínez Mus, announced that the Generalitat would carry out temporary works until the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ) defines the project against flooding in the Valencia Logistics Park and in the industrial zone of El Oliveral.

Martínez Mus, who visited the El Oliveral Logistics and Industrial Park, in Riba-roja del Túria, indicated that “within the flood-prone parks project, we are reviewing the actions in the area to urgently undertake a change of the rolling ponds downstream in order to avoid further flooding.” An infrastructure that was deemed necessary to avoid endangering workers and businesses in this strategic area of ​​the province of Valencia.

Martínez Mus added that “the project for a definitive solution for the drainage of the Pozalet ravine depends on the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar (CHJ), but after more than a year without providing solutions, the Generalitat will act urgently to resolve the problems that the area experiences every time torrential rains occur.”

The third vice president also supervised the section of the Metrovalencia L2 in Font del Barranc which saw traffic between Paterna and La Cañada interrupted and visited the access works to the Sierra Perenchiza in Chiva to check the status of the works on the road after the rains.