The vice-president of the Diputación and president of the Provincial Fire Brigade Consortium, Manuel Marmolejo, has criticised the PSOE spokesman in the Diputación, Josele González, for putting his «irresponsible politics of confrontation» ahead of the safety of the firefighters at the Manilva retén, «whose closure and temporary relocation has the support of the committee, the risk prevention company, the CCOO union and the staff who work at the facilities, all backed by technical, logistical and operational reports.
«The PSOE doesn’t care about the conditions in which these professionals have to work, it doesn’t listen to them, because its only aim is to invent controversies to continue with its destructive strategy«, Marmolejo has lamented, stressing that «this is not a political decision but an objective one».
As the various reports (from the CPB technical director, the CPB zone chief, the CPB Health and Safety Committee and CCOO) point out, the facilities do not meet the minimum required working standards, have serious functional shortcomings and limit ongoing training. In addition, their location, in the middle of the urban centre, has caused numerous operational problems, as has been shown on several occasions.
«The governing team already knew the roadmap and agreed with it», the president of the Consortium has asserted, referring to the fact that deputy mayor Marcos Ruiz took part in conversations in which he «obtained first-hand information».
«It is a shame that the PSOE wants to politicise an issue on which the only people who should speak are the technicians, who guarantee that response times will remain adequate», Marmolejo has said, stressing that the Diputación de Málaga is waiting for Manilva Town Hall to hand over the land so that the new facilities can be built in a better location«. «What the PSOE should do is get to work and make the land available as soon as possible», he added.
In the meantime, the transfer of the firefighters to Estepona will reinforce that station, which will have eight personnel and more vehicles. This solution allows the service to continue without undermining its effectiveness, as the Estepona station already covers more than half of the critical emergencies in Manilva and Casares and works de facto as a necessary and obligatory back-up to the retén.
The advantages identified by the technicians are numerous: previously proven coverage, equivalent physical proximity and even an advantage in many parts of the area – including within the municipality of Manilva, such as the areas furthest east of San Luis de Sabinillas beach -, greater availability of resources, better internal organisation and training capacity, and a reduction in occupational risks for staff.
This working model forms part of the CPB’s operational design, which is based on the coordinated activation of resources from different centres, whether simultaneously, in a complementary way or in stages. «Let the technicians work, they are the ones who know about safety and protecting citizens, listen to them and do not hinder their work for purely political reasons», Marmolejo has snapped at the Socialists.
