Earlier today, the CiF office of the presidential cabinet signed an agreement with the Endesa company to facilitate utility payments for low-income individuals at risk of power cuts. The agreement was signed by CiF president Jaume Ferrer and Endesa’s director general in the Balearics, Ernesto Bonnín.
Under the terms of the agreement, Endesa will facilitate payment in cases where Formentera residents run the risk of losing electricity service. According to social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada, the new process will involve the Formentera Council contacting Endesa to let them know if a financially-struggling customer is registered with CiF social services and if that customer has recently received a favourable report from the department.
As per agreement terms, Endesa and the CiF will base repayment requirements for the unpaid bills on assessments concerning the struggling individual that have been overseen by the Council.
The Council, said Parellada, will intercede in those cases that non-payment of a utility bill threatens to translate into a service interruption for resource-strapped families. “We will assess households on a case-by-case basis to determine how to proceed, whether that means reducing or forgiving the sum owed. In the absence of other options the administration will consider paying the bill itself,” she said.
The new deal comes under a framework agreement signed 11 July last between the utilities provider and the FELIB, the organisation that represents municipalities in their dealings with Endesa.
The Endesa-FELIB framework agreement is part of Directive 2009/72/CE (13 July 2009), which establishes common rules for the internal market in electricity. The directive requires Member States of the European Community to adopt measures to guarantee electricity service to financially-struggling individuals.
With the help of jobs portal turijobs.com, the CiF office of tourism and trade has got the selection process under way that will provide a reserve of seasoned tourism industry workers for Formentera businesses this summer. “Signups yielded 9,114 candidates for the 130 jobs that our island businesses have proposed,” explained tourism councilor Alejandra Ferrer. “From that initial pool, 400 individuals were contacted for phone or Skype interviews,” she reported.
The Formentera Council’s office of social welfare has joined forces with the local group Associació de la Festa Intercultural to put on the fourteenth annual Intercultural Day. This morning, social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada unveiled details in a press conference attended by head organiser Ángeles Martínez Canales and Associació president Manuel Londeiro.
Earlier today, the Formentera Council (CiF) held its March plenary session. The session brought unanimous approval for a measure to include funding in the CiF’s 2017 budget for an overhaul of el camí Vell (the old road) to la Mola. Transport councillor Rafael González explained that the project, which is designed to improve the flow of traffic along the entire length of el camí Vell, will rely on “dialogue with landowners and neighbours”. González also assured the project would reflect Formentera residents’ various uses of the road as well as traffic flows throughout different segments.
Education councillor Susana Labrador has announced today that for the 2015-2016 school year, the Formentera Council’s office of education will provide €38,000 in grants for students in higher education, training, postsecondary and arts programmes attended off the island. For Formentera residents that study in Eivissa or take part in a distance learning programme, the aid will come in the form of €150 grants, she explained. Students that travel beyond the Pitiüsa islands will receive €450. The councillor also noted the number of travel cost grants issued last year: ninety.