PALMA CLEAN UP

Staff Reporter EMAYA, the Palma-based water and rubbish collection company, will launch an “improved clean-up campaign” in the capital at the beginning of March. Following an investment of 5 million euros in cleaning vehicles and equipment Antoni Nadal, Environment councillor and head of Emaya; and the company's area chief, Francesc Montalvá, confirmed that in order to get the project off the ground, another 35 members of staff have been contracted, bringing the number of employees to 289. With the new machinery acquisitions, the company fleet is now made up of 341 vehicles, of which “more than 100 fall under the jurisdiction of the Environment department”, explained Montalvá. The Mayor of Palma, Catalina Cirer, described the problem of cleaning the city as a “theme of fundamental importance” and added that the “aim” of this programme is that it should be based on “continuous action”. The Mayor furthered, that “this strategy will help us solve the pollution problems facing each and every one of the city's districts”. One aspect of cleaning administration that the Mayor drew attention to was the fact that Palma has undergone major population growth in recent years. Cirer called on everyone in the city to help make the “capital clean-up” a success. The importance of “co-operation in cleanliness” was also highlighted by Nadal, who defined this aspect as a crucial part of the plan. He hammered the point home that without “people's individual responsibility” to keeping their neighbourhood clean, any cleaning plan, no matter how thorough, is doomed to failure”. In order to secure this co-operation, the personnel at Emaya will give special emphasis to “providing information and advice for local people on obligatory standards of public hygiene and cleanliness”. Such statutes will include particular guidelines for pet owners, which are to be applied over the next few months. Other fundamental aspects of the programme are the provision of enough human and technical resources to the needs of each district. This will mean the installation of new rubbish skips, waste bins, containers for dumping solid urban waste (such as unwanted fridges), measures which will complement local council action plans.