The Minister of Finance, Employment and Commerce, Dunia Almansouri, was in charge of the local government to defend the request for a loan of 45.6 million euros for this year, money that has already been collected in the current budget. The proposal received the approval of the Plenary, with the vote in favor of CpM, PSOE, Ciudadanos and the non-attached deputy, Jesús Delgado, as well as the abstention of Vox, the PP being the only one who voted against. Almansouri asserted that this loan means 3 years of job creation and then more jobs to maintain the infrastructures that will be built with this investment. The PP deputy, Daniel Conesa, said in this regard that they did not agree with this request because it was not going to invest in projects necessary for the city.
The head of the Treasury said that the PP has no arguments to vote against the request for this loan because they know that it does not imply an indebtedness of the City and that this money is needed to generate the expansionary policy necessary in these times of crisis, no only because of the pandemic, but because of the closing of the border. He asserted that the PP makes an excuse to say ‘no’ to this money that they do not like the projects that are going to be financed with this budget.
But Almansouri argued in his first intervention that the most important of those 45.6 million euros that will be added to another 20 million that the City puts out of its own budgets, is that employment will be generated for three years and then, there will be more jobs of work that will be created for the management and maintenance of the infrastructures realized with those 65 million euros destined to investment.
The Minister of Finance insisted to the PP that neither they believe the arguments they launch because they know that the request for this loan is “an opportunity.” He indicated that it can be requested because it does not imply any extra cost to the people of Melilla, since the financial burden of the City will be 8.93% and it could reach, according to current regulations, up to 25%.
“It is an opportunity to be able to alleviate in some way the loss of income due to the closure of the border and the loss due to public spending on other issues in which it has had to invest,” he said.
For this reason, he called in the face of the PP that it was not more responsible with its vote and that it did not see the opportunity that Melilla represents to obtain more money for investments without there being problems of cost overruns for the public coffers.
Almansouri stressed that there are 38 million euros more in investment than what the PP Government allocated in its last budget and defended that it is time to increase public spending to help the city’s economy.
The counselor understood that the PP wanted other investments for that money, but indicated that it was a poor argument given the positive and the favorable repercussion that this credit will have in the city.
The head of the Treasury pulled the investment annex to highlight some of the projects that are going to be developed with the 65 million euros and thus face the opinion of the PP that they are not suitable for the city. He highlighted the ‘Melilla Viva’ program with the construction of a Youth House; investments in sports, an area in which work is being carried out “in a very determined way to generate a sports center in the city”; the reform of the Post Office building to expand the UGR headquarters; the construction of a new hostel or the expansion of the San Francisco dining room. The counselor also highlighted the rehabilitation of the Cristo Rey chapel; the work of the Local Police Headquarters; the urbanization of the Gabriel de Morales lands or the elimination of the buildings that still exist in those of Santiago; construction of playgrounds; the work to access the Trápana beach; or the dredging of the southern beaches, because that is where the cruise ship dock will go.
For all these reasons, Almansouri understands that the PP cannot vote against this request for credit. He accused the popular of “their inability” by not understanding the moment of crisis that the city is experiencing and the need to expand public spending and that this party is still in opposition.
The head of the Treasury reiterated that the opportunity to request a loan that has a low cost for the people of Melilla cannot be lost when the rules that prevented greater public spending have been eliminated precisely because that investment of the administrations in the companies is needed .
Likewise, he took up another of the arguments that he already presented a few days ago and that is the multiplier effect of those 65 million euros. He affirmed that there is an economic theory that indicates that the 80% investment in the salaries that will be paid with these new projects must be multiplied by 5 and the result is 325 million euros of repercussion on the city’s economy.
And he ended his speech by stating that already in these two years the local government policy has allowed the number of unemployed in the city to be lowered from 10,000 to 8,000 and he does not believe it is a coincidence, but it will be because the Executive of Eduardo de Castro you are doing some positive policy. He concluded regretting that the PP says “atrocities and nonsense” not to vote in favor of requesting this loan of 45 million euros.
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