At just 27 years of age, Youth, Education, Environment, Animals, New Technologies, Markets, Tourism, Commerce, Protocol, Press and Communication, Employment and Training, are the positions that Joel Noche Lopes holds in the San Fulgencio City Council, which the Independent Party for Nationalities (PIPN) warns are far too many for one man.
PIPN Party spokesperson, Councillor Charo Mejías, says that Noche cannot possibly fully discharge his duties in each of the position he holds because it is not humanly possible for one person to spread his efforts satisfactorily across so many and such a diverse range of functions. As such she says that many areas for which he is responsible are not being properly managed.
As expected, however, Councillor Noche holds quite the opposite view. He says that he is completely dedicated to his roles in the council working morning, noon and night, if required, to ensure that they are properly administered, “with a lot of work and with the support of the staff that work in each department.”
The PIPN is particularly critical of one gratuitous function that cost “nearly 11 thousand Euros for a single night”, in reference to “Al Son de la Salsa”, a salsa dance event that he organised last August. “It was awarded in May 2018 to a company that is now bankrupt, that no longer exists, and the payment, amounting to 9,010 euros plus 378 euros IVA, was made to an individual and not to the company”. This payment has since been denounced by the PIPN.
The PIPN is also critical of the Councillor’s family business which is going to open on the urbanisation in April, and which is destined to supply cannabis. “This is a further folly of this government team and even more mismanagement by Joel Noche.”
They say that the store “will enhance the drug problem already existing in the urbanization, thus exacerbating a situation that is already a problem in the area.
However Noches has denied that he is involved and claims that it is his father who is linked to the cannabis club.
The cannabis association will open in April, and permits are already being processed. The company says that it will provide a therapeutic service to the population, as many people in the urbanisation, residents from other countries, need to take this substance by prescription to ease their aches and pains. He explains that it will not be the first non-profit entity that exists in the region, since there are already outlets in Almoradí and Torrevieja.”
