The plenary session of the Tarragona City Council approved this Friday to fine FCC 140,000 euros for the container crisis last autumn, an amount that falls far short of the 335,000 euros initially proposed in the proceedings. The reduction came after the council partially accepted the former concessionaire's claims.
The gap between the collapse the city experienced between the end of October and the beginning of November and the reduction of the penalty was the focus of the political clash in Plaça de la Font. ERC questioned why, after the mountains of waste accumulated during All Saints' Day and the change from FCC to Urbaser, the municipal government cut the planned fine by 60%.
The City Council maintained 65,000 euros for October and reduced the November crisis to 75,000
The initial proposal set a fine of 335,000 euros. Of that amount, 65,000 euros corresponded to 282 services not provided in October and another 270,000 euros to the container crisis recorded between November 1st and 4th.
Finally, the City Council maintained the penalty for the October breaches and reduced the part related to the waste overflow to 75,000 euros. The municipal proceedings were thus closed with a total fine of 140,000 euros.
The reason for the discrepancy lay in the municipal requirement that the 120 vehicles in the fleet had passed their ITV (vehicle inspection) and corresponding inspections before November 4th, the date set for the change in concession.
FCC argued in its claims that the services not provided responded to municipal requirements and instructions related to the reversal process. The company also alleged the nullity of the City Council's reports because they were drafted by a technician who, according to their version, had previously had litigation with the concessionaire.
ERC criticized the reduction and Sonia Orts linked it to the blocking of the new contract
The vote went ahead with the votes of PSC, PP, and Junts per Catalunya. The three non-attached councilors, En Comú Podem, and Vox abstained, while ERC voted against.
Xavier Puig, spokesperson for ERC, harshly criticized the reduction in the amount and linked the decision to the municipal executive's dealings with the outgoing company.
"We do not understand this reduction. The city suffered a situation with mountains of waste. We do not understand that they get cold feet in front of a company that billed more than 20 million euros" - Xavier Puig, spokesperson for ERC, Tarragona City Council
In the same intervention, Puig accused the executive of Plaça de la Font of "defending the lobbies more than the citizens". The response came from the Public Cleaning area, where Sonia Orts reproached ERC for its actions in the previous phase of the new contract.
"I was speechless. You put every possible obstacle in our way for the new contract" - Sonia Orts, councilor for Public Cleaning, Tarragona City Council
Orts added that the current government has executed sanctions against the former concessionaire and recalled that, with Ivana Martínez, a socialist executive was the first to fine the operator. Puig replied afterwards that ERC had already imposed a fine of 250,000 euros on FCC during its time in government.
FCC has already announced that it will file an appeal and will go to court with the aim of completely annulling the fine of 140,000 euros.