A report into contracts at the Alcudia municipal services company, Emsa, discovered a series of irregularities last year. The report, dated 14 June, has come to light and shows that the value of works awarded directly, i.e. without a public tender of presentation of budgets, exceeded established legal limits of 18,000 and 50,000 euros. The invoice for one company doing repair work to the sewage and water treatment system was for 242,000 euros.
The report recommends the implementation of procedures to avoid any possible and recurring illegality. The councillor responsible for Emsa, Domingo Bonnín, acknowledges that there have been irregularities. However, "it is nothing new, it's a problem that has been dragging on for some years, and mechanisms are now being put in place to correct it".
Bonnín insists that it is a problem from the past which has obviously not been entirely solved. "But we are taking steps," he says, adding that in any case "all payments correspond to work that was done".
* Emsa has today (Tuesday) issued a statement in which it says that the contract for 242,000 euros was for work that needed to be carried out immediately for emergency repairs. In these circumstances, repairs cannot wait for a tendering procedure. The priority was to solve the problem straightaway in order to prevent it getting worse and presenting a risk to people and to the environment.
All the repairs were carried out in a justified manner with the appropriate documentation and reports for when unforeseen situations require an emergency solution.