The Sueña Torrevieja group this week reported their disappointment that the most vulnerable residents of Torrevieja are being neglected by the local government, as the contract to provide such basic needs as food parcels has not been completed, despite the process starting, accompanied by the promises of the Mayor, Eduardo Dolón, in May, 2021.
The group reports that on 27 August 2021, the official process for the new contract file began, but has still not been awarded, harming hundreds of people with serious social and economic difficulties.
Therefore, even if the contract process continued immediately, it would still not be until at least the second quarter of 2023 when families and vulnerable people could have the lots of food and basic necessities.
“On August 27, 2021, the supply of essential food and hygiene products for people in vulnerable situations began, and it was done without haste, almost 4 months after the end of the previous contract for these supplies that was awarded by the Governing Board of January 15, 2021, with a duration until May 9, 2021.”
“To continue with the delays, the former recruitment councillor takes almost 9 months to appoint a file technician, on May 19, 2022.”
“Continuing with the delays, it takes another 5 months to prepare the specifications.”
Finally, says Pablo Samper, the spokesperson for Sueña Torrevieja, “the rush is coming and they declare the urgency to approve the file at the Governing Board on October 21, 2022, because the elections are coming up in May 2023 and it must seem that it is very urgent to help people in situation of vulnerability after this file has been completely slowed down for more than 14 months”.
“As if that were not enough, they approve in the Governing Board on November 11, 2022 new Report and technical and administrative specifications, due to errors in the IVA of batch 5, which should be 21% instead of 10%, which opens a new deadline for submission of offers that goes from November 21 to December 12, 2022, delaying the tender for 21 more days.”
“To continue with the nonsense, they approve on December 9, 2022, new reports and technical and administrative specifications, by committing new numerical errors that affect the total contract in the unit price tables for food and the applicable IVA, delaying the bid submission period until January 9, 2023, a total of 28 more days, with which the service was not awarded before December 31, 2022.”
Samper assures that ” the item of expenses that finances this file has remained at 11,413 euro in the 2021 budget extended to 2023 from January 1, and therefore citizens in a situation of social vulnerability are going to stay two full years without lots of food, from May 9, 2021, until at least the second quarter of 2023 in the best case in which the contract is awarded”.
