‘Police not doing enough about drugs'

Staff Reporter THE Coll d'en Rebassa (Palma) neighbourhood association claimed yesterday that “all the police forces in Majorca are not doing enough to erradicate drugs” from the notorious Son Banya district. This, they alleged, creates major insecurity problems in Coll d'en Rebassa. The association's chairwoman, Catalina Aloy, said that muggings were the order of the day because the area is so close to Son Banya. She said that parents were also worried about the “bad company” their children keep near the sales points of drugs. “The whole of Son Banya should be pulled down, not just a small part of it, because if this is not done, the drugs and insecurity will continue.” Coll residents have been holding talks with the police, to protest at the drugs situation and the delinquency in the area. Aloy criticised the response: “We were told it was a problem which went back a long time, and there were people who were difficult to touch and stronger than the police.” This is just one of the problems affecting the district, which also has to contend with pollution from the obsolete San Juan de Dios power station and noise from planes landing and taking off from Son Sant Joan airport. Another complaint is the heavy traffic through the main street. The association has also asked the city council to lay on a bus which goes directly from Can Pastilla, El Molinar, Arenal and the Coll to the new National Health hospital of Son Llatzer. Aloy said “it's ridiculous that we should be just seven minutes away yet it takes 90 minutes to arrive because we have to go to Palma, and then get another bus to the hospital.” They have been pressing their claims for improvements for more than 15 years, Aloy said.