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Regional minister of town and country planning, energy and transport makes first official visit to Formentera

Visita Joan BonedToday marked the first official visit to Formentera by Joan Boned, regional minister of town and country planning, energy and transport for the Govern Balear. Right off the boat, Secretary Boned joined Formentera Council president Jaume Ferrer on a visit of the island's power plant. A meeting followed at the CiF main office that was attended by the Council's town and country planning and tourism councillor, Alejandra Ferrer, councillor of infrastructure and transport Rafael González and environment councillor Daisee Aguilera. The meeting was also attended by the Govern Balear's director general of energy and climate change, Joan Groizard.

Meeting with residents of Es Ca Marí neighbourhood
After the encounter in Sant Francesc, the regional minister met with residents of Es Ca Marí to discuss the problem of excessive noise at the nearby power station, an issue which had also been central to the morning gathering of administration officials. Jaume Ferrer explained that now more than ever “Formentera is hanging on by a thread”, referring to last week's rupture of one of two electric cables linking Eivissa with Formentera. Officials of the Council stressed their concern with regard to the precariousness of the island's power station. While acknowledging the absence of easy solutions to the problem, Secretary Boned committed to “working together with residents of the neighbourhood and the local administration to resolve the issue”.

IBAVI information desk in Formentera
Another assurance made by the Govern minister regarded the imminent creation of an information desk to address the housing issues of locals, whether that meant simply answering basic questions or—when possible—helping Formenterencs avoid travelling to other islands to complete formalities. Over the course of the day's encounter the Council also voiced its request that a Govern-drafted report on maritime transport set minimum frequencies and maximum prices for ferry journeys between Eivissa and Formentera. The Council also used the occasion to petition for improvements to public ground transport. Finally, officials spoke about the work that remained in order to permanently dissolve the Consorci Formentera Desenvolupament, or Formentera Development Consortium.

The town and country planning, energy and transport minister expressed his intention to create a calendar for the resolution of the different issues and “determine the working groups necessary to solving them as soon as possible”.