The Legal Council of the Region reprimands the City Council for trying to kick the concessionaire out of the service “without giving it a hearing”
The operation of the Center for Family and Labor Reconciliation of Fuente Álamo is not going through its best moment. It is denounced by the group of fathers and mothers – almost a hundred users – in a public statement. In the letter, they make clear their “discomfort” due to the “shortcomings, both in personnel and in toys and teaching materials”, in addition to the “systematic saving policy that has led to not having the heating on throughout the winter.” The lack of understanding between the service concession company and the Fuente Álamo City Council is behind the problem.
In these conditions, say parents, “the 99 children between 0 and 3 years old that the center welcomes are mixed without age criteria, which, on occasions, causes the saturation of the workers and the exceeding of reasonable ratios for babies and young children.”
According to the parents’ group, the lack of staff is caused “by the voluntary resignation of several workers after accumulating months without pay and others who are on leave.” So, “knowing that there is no charge, the candidates to whom the vacancies are offered, do not accept.” At this time, say the parents, “there are five people working, of the twelve positions that should be covered.” The group of parents, being all of them up to date with the payment of their fees, considers that they should “demand the City Council to solve the problem immediately.”
Regarding the causes of this problem, the families state in their statement that it is due “to the disputes between the City Council and the concession company.”
disagreements
The contract between the company and the Consistory was signed in October 2021 for four years, at a rate of 234,740 euros each. However, from the beginning there were disputes over the number of jobs to be filled, the qualifications of the staff and whether part of them should be full or part time. As there was no agreement, the local government brought to the Plenary in March 2022 a proposal to terminate the contract and, in parallel, the start of a new tender, which is currently in the evaluation phase of offers.
However, the municipal plans have come up against a “mandatory” opinion of the Legal Council of the Region of Murcia to which LA TRUTH has had access. In it, the resolution of the contract that the City Council sought is disavowed, since “before it should have been communicated to the company so that it could allege what is appropriate to its right.” The opposite, says the Council, “not giving an audience to the company, generates defenselessness.”
From the concessionaire, Larena Cooperativa, a spokesman assures THE TRUTH that the Fuente Álamo City Council owes him 100,000 euros “and hence the impossibility of hiring more personnel.” In addition, he indicated that the appropriate legal actions are reserved against the Consistory “for the persecution to which the company has been subjected.”
Sources from the local executive consulted by this newsroom emphasize that the opinion of the Legal Council of the Region refers only to “a formal defect” and showed their willingness to solve the problem “as soon as possible, attending to the demands of the parents and the general interests of the City Council.
From the opposition, the only councilor of the local Cifa formation, Agustín Sánchez, demands of the local executive “political responsibilities, as well as of the officials who have acted in this matter.”
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