Fourth Los Verdes Surgery in Orihuela Costa

The fourth Los Verdes surgery in Orihuela Costa will be held between 10.30 am & 12.30 pm on Wednesday 30th July 2008 at the Celtic Isle in Playa Flamenca. Monserrate Guillén, Los Verdes Councillor for the coast, will be in attendance and we are able to provide translation from English, French, German, and Swedish into Spanish at the surgery.

As the previous three surgeries have been very busy, If someone wants to ask for a specific time, to reduce waiting, they should contact us by email at either elliotsampford@gmail.com or losverdesorihuela@yahoo.es to request a time if available.

Date of Third Surgery

The third Los Verdes surgery in Orihuela Costa is to be held on Wednesday 16th July 2008 between 10.30 am & 12.30 pm at the Celtic Isle in Playa Flamenca.

Some of the time slots have already been allocated so if someone coming wants to reduce any waiting time it's best to ask for a free slot. This can be done by emailing elliotsampford@gmail.com.

Publication of the Register of Councillor’s Interests

Los Verdes of Orihuela have filed a Motion, for inclusion and discussion at the next Pleno (Town Council meeting), that a full public disclosure is made of the financial data and outside interests of the elected Councillors of Orihuela.

Los Verdes do not consider that it is enough to only register with the General Secretariat of the Council the individual income and possible conflict of interests, but that as so requested by the Ley de Suelo, that these matters are made public knowledge for the sake of the greatest transparency to avoid possible fabrications and present and future corrupt practices, taking into account the current times.

The ‘Ley de Suelo‘, in force since last May, 2007, reads in the Ninth additional provision amending, among others, Article 75.7 of the Code of Local Regime: "Local representatives, as well as non-members elected to the Board of Local Government, make statement on possible causes of conflict and to provide them with any activity or may provide income. Statements were also made of their assets and participation in companies of all kinds, with information of companies owned by them and liquidations of taxes on income, Heritage and, where appropriate, Societies. Such statements, made in the designs approved by the respective full, will take place before the inauguration, on the occasion of cessation and end of the mandate, and when changes the factual circumstances. The annual declarations of assets and activities will be published on an annual basis, and in any case at the time of completion of the mandate, under the terms set by the municipal statute. "

The Orihuela Council, like many others in Spain, does not meet this standard obligation. Neither does it appear that said circumstances are regulated in any municipal regulation or statute. However, this does not prevent the implementation of the aforementioned article of the Act, since there are municipalities, such as Seville or Vigo among others, that give effect to the Act by publishing such a declaration of their assets in their municipal websites.

Therefore, Los Verdes want the Town Council of Orihuela, in the meeting of the Pleno, to agree to the immediate publication, or before the 1st January 2009, the statement of assets and conflicts if any, of Councillors and Asesores (advisers) of this Council on the official municipal website a media that is accessible to all citizens, in compliance with Ley 8 / 2007, del Suelo.

Similarly, that they publish on the Council website, in pursuance of the said Act, the annual declarations of income and assets of the Councillors, Advisers, and non-elected members of the Board of Local Government, if any.

The agreement by the PP ruled Town Council to the open publication of Councillor’s interests would be an important step towards an ‘Open Government‘, a right that Los Verdes strongly believe the Electorate must have.

ORIHUELA COSTA STREET NAMES & HOUSE NUMBERS UPDATE

For 5 years since 2003 Los Verdes of Orihuela have denounced the discrimination that exists within the Orihuela Municipality in respect of the entry on the electoral register of foreign Residents within Orihuela Costa.

Throughout this period of time the Los Verdes municipal party has put forward various initiatives in the Orihuela Town Council such as questions and motions during the meetings of the Pleno, to the I.N.E. (National Institute of Statistics), and before the Committee of Petitions by MEP of the Green Party, David Hammerstein, highlighting the policy of the PP that it considers the foreign Residents as second class citizens.

“Given that lack of identification of houses and public roads causes a serious problem in mail delivery to residents in them, and that as much, the INE as the Central Board of Elections required this Town Council to attack the necessary actions, so that residents of Orihuela Costa normally receive their mail and, specifically, the notifications sent by the INE to the European Residents to exercise their right to vote, and considering that before the forthcoming European elections, the INE will resend by mail to the European residents the option to vote, and that all that is proposed is dealt with as a matter of urgency.”
(Translation of quote made by the ruling PP of the Orihuela Town Council in document 2.9.- Contratacion - 185/235/08)

Los Verdes of Orihuela announce that the Residents in Orihuela Costa should see, in a short period of time, all the streets within the Orihuela Costa area of the Orihuela Municipality having street name signs, as this was approved in a recent meeting of the Government of Orihuela, and at the same time the official registered number, that will agree with the padron register, will be put on individual houses to avoid future problems to the Residents.

Amongst other measures the post code will change so that 03189 relates exclusively to the whole of Orihuela Costa, and this will include Dehesa de Campoamor.

At this moment it is solely a lack of the actual act of placing the names in the streets and the numbers on the properties, and all this work has to be completed, in accordance with the order of the European Parliament, before the 15th September of this year, 2008.

Therefore Los Verdes ask the Residents to check that the number put on their house corresponds with that on the padron register and that if the work is not completed by the 15th September 2008, in accordance with the mandate of the European Parliament, that they inform Los Verdes, with the objective that a public denouncement can be made in respect of this matter. To do this Residents can either email to losverdesorihuela@yahoo.es , or contact one of the members of the Los Verdes Working Group in Orihuela Costa at the fortnightly surgery, or by telephone on 965319660 (English) or 965328190 (Multilingual).

BYELAW ABOUT OWNERSHIP & PROTECTION OF ANIMALS APPROVED

On Tuesday the 25th June 2008 the Pleno (Town Council meeting) of Orihuela was presented with the proposed Ordenanza Municipal sobre Tenencia y Proteccion de Animals, the Byelaw relating to the ownership and protection of animals.

This is a wide ranging Byelaw that includes the responsibilities of owners of dogs in such items as; the ownership & control of dangerous dogs; the control of all dogs in public areas to ensure the safety and health of the public, including the legal requirement to clean up any faeces of their dog in public areas; exclusion of dogs from designated public recreation areas including beaches; protection of animals against cruelty, including leaving dogs in parked and unattended cars. It includes regulations in the treatment of abandoned and lost animals.

The Ordenanza was approved with a unanimous vote in agreement from all Councillors.

Los Verdes are delighted, as this is the culmination of the work that they have carried out since the 15th November 2007 when the party raised the matter of the lack of any legislation within the Orihuela Municipality in respect of this matter. Seven months of continually putting pressure on the ruling PP Council, by repeatedly raising this subject in the Pleno and with the Councillors responsible for drafting the Ordenanza, has seen fruition.

The approval of the Byelaw by the Pleno is the first part of the final procedure for the legislation to become effective. The next stage is that the text of the Ordenanza in its entirety has to be published in the Buletin Oficial de la Provincia of the Alicante Province. A period of 15 days is required for any final amendments to be considered before the legislation can become effective.

Following the proposal put forward by Los Verdes, the Pleno agreed that a full programme of Public information and awareness about the new Byelaw will be carried out. This will include the provision by the Council of a leaflet, to be freely available, in various languages, including Spanish, English, and German, to clarify the contents, effect, and penalties for non-compliance of the new Ordenanza. A programme of training is to be given to the Policia Local to ensure that members are aware of the details of the law.