8
Monday 13th - Sunday 19th April, 2020
www.theleader.info
Following complaints from several residents Guardia agents, found a bar in the town that continued to run its hospitality business, clandestinely, letting customers through half open shutters.
ADVERTISING HOTLINE
637 227 385
Noting the nervousness of staff in the grocery, the Police became suspicious
Councillor Luisa Boné wih the Chief of Police
The agents confirmed it’s operation after they saw an elderly man, who was walking his dog, stop at the front door and, after looking around to make sure no one was watching, kicked the door twice with his foot. The door was opened, the man disappeared inside and the shutter was lowered to the floor.
Ten new Local Police officers for Orihuela
The uniformed officers then entered the premises, where they found the man drinking beer. As a result, both the owner of the bar and the client of the same have been sanctioned. At two other locations in the town police have also found a second bar that was operating illicitly under the guise of being a grocery shop, and a gymnasium
Civil Guard closes unauthorised bar and gymnasium in Torrevieja Given the nervousness of the staff the Guardia further inspected the site where they found 10 doses of cocaine, 45 blister packs of Viagra, various notebooks recording the details of drug transactions, 1,358 euros in cash, drug making equipment and DNI cards deposited by buyers as insurance for future payment. As a result of the discovery the Civil Guard arrested an 18-year-old woman, a national of
LEADER
the Dominican Republic, who was subsequently charged with drug trafficking. Also in Torrevieja, a 40-year-old Spanish man has been sanctioned for an alleged crime of serious disobedience, having continued the activities at his gymnasium. The Civil Guard alerted by neighbourhood complaints and suspicions that this gym was being used by members behind closed doors. As the agents watched the unit they saw
people arriving with bags and sports clothes remaining there for about an hour. The shutters were always closed, but there was a code that allowed them access to the building. When the Civil Guard entered the building they found that the clients did not carry any type of sanitary security measure, gloves or masks. They have now been charged for breaching the containment measures and the premises have been sealed.
Councillor Luisa Boné, announced the appointment of ten Local Police officers who will join the staff of the Department of Citizen Security in the next few days. The cost of their employment amounts to € 420,816 and the addition of 8 more officers is currently being processed. Boné said that "one of the objectives that my colleague, councillor Ramón López Cabrera and I had when we assumed our respective positions, was to increase the staff of local police officers in our municipality following its previous year on year reduction. Over a period of approximately six years officers who have left the force, either through retirement or changing jobs, have not been replaced so a large vacuum has been created which we now need to fill. The interim police officers have been engaged for a maximum period of two years. There are 18 vacancies in total. Boné said that “the investment made for the engagement of these first 10 police officers amounts to € 420,816 although the total figure, which included the addition 8 officers, is 757,470 euros. In January the councillor said that the Orihuela Costa will have a greater police surveillance with the Council planning to create a new coastal unit of Police officers who will be responsible for beach surveillance and improved security in the Orihuela Costa. She said that the six new agents would be recruited and in place by May.
Pilar de la Horadada asks the government for 50,000 masks The Mayor of Pilar de la Horadada, José María Pérez has sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking for a consignment of face masks for the local population. The Council has so far been able to provide 20,000 masks for distribution among health, police and civil protection officers, in addition to coordinating the delivery of 400 protective screens and 300 gowns. In the unwritten manual on how municipalities must cope with the coronavirus pandemic, the next stage, after demanding that the public complies with the state of alarm and confinement, is to provide face masks for all residents, especially now that the government is saying how important it is that they be worn by everyone who ventures out in public. Small towns such as Bigastro and Redován in the Vega Baja, have already been able to provide this "supply" from the outset, with a production of volunteers and donations from local companies that have enabled them to meet their objective. Others, with more limitations, have given priority to those who are "on the front line" fighting against the virus - health workers, pharmacies, policemen and other at risk groups, especially the elderly. But for the bigger towns and cities, and their large populations, it can be very difficult. That is why Pilar de la Horadada, with it’s 22,000 residents, is asking for help from central government. Mayor
José María Pérez has gone straight to the top and asked the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, for 50,000 masks to protect the local population. He did say that the municipality has enough resources to assume its cost and will pay for any consignment.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, the mayor uses a tone of ‘institutional loyalty’
In the municipality, which has a large community of foreign residents and residents with second homes, there have been 12 infections with coronavirus and one death. Volunteers in Pilar de la Horadada, through Civil Protection, have already produced 20,000 masks, 400 3D printed protective screens Makers and 300 sanitary gowns. But it's not enough. José María Pérez, in his letter to the Prime Minister, uses a tone of institutional loyalty "to thank the effort that the Government is making to control the pandemic. He asks him to send 50,000 masks to cover the entire population, “since we are preparing a distribution plan so that they can reach all the residents who do not have them." Pérez says that the solidarity among the people from Pilar "has been overwhelming, but it is impossible for us to provide everyone in the entire town with material. The residents do not stop day or night. They are sewing homemade masks for their relatives, neighbours and friends, but it is not enough. Civil Protection volunteers are disinfecting and distributing them, prioritising basic municipal
social services, security forces, citizen service personnel, and health personnel. The City Council has also boughta number of masks, but it is still not enough. "For this reason, he says in his letter that it" requires "the support of the central government to be able to supply" all the residents of the municipality of Pilar de la Horadada with masks
as a preventive measure. In a footnote the mayor wrote, "Awaiting your news, and the arrival of the long-awaited masks for the entire population, I remind you that you have us at your entire disposal in everything that we can contribute to improve the situation and reduce the impact of this crisis."
