“The project will not solve traffic problems”

by Staff Reporter
FRANCESC Antich, the Socialist spokesman, said yesterday he was convinced that the Balearic government “will have a change of heart” and abandon their plans to construct a motorway linking the key towns of Inca and Manacor. He was speaking after a meeting with Socialist spokesmen on the town councils of localities affected by the project.
Antich, the former leader of the Balearics, said that the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) hopes that the government will instead resort to the road widening scheme between Palma and Manacor which was originally proposed by his party when in power. Antich claimed that the Balearic government could start on the road widening project on the Palma-Manacor highway “within the space of three weeks”, if they so chose. He added that the PSOE would continue to press for the government to opt for “the right course”, maintaining that the motorway policy is “misguided” and ”not properly thought out”. Antich confirmed that during their meeting, the Socialist groups had discussed alternatives to the motorway project. They considered the government highway programme to be “illogical” as it was not part of the Popular Party's electoral manifesto, nor in the Balearic Highway Plan. Antich went on to state that apart from making a Parliamentary appeal against the government's road projects, the Socialists will also launch a debate on the subject in relation to Majorca's development plan. It is Antich's view, that the construction of the motorway, instead of offering solutions to traffic problems, will instead “bring its own chaos”. It will increase the “serious jams” on the already existing motorway between Inca and Palma.