Storm repair bill should be completed this week

PALMA
THE Balearic government hopes to have completed assessing the damage caused by the last storm this week.
Government spokesperson Margarita Najera hopes to have the total damage repair bill completed “within a matter of days” so that both local and national governments can embark on the process of compensating the victims of the two storms which caused widespread damage across the region, in particular Majorca, on October 4 and 17.

The ministries for Agriculture, Fisheries and Industry are heavily involved in helping the government assess the damage and they will also assist the authorities when it comes to awarding and distributing compensation.

The government's primary concern, explained Najera, is to provide support to the victims who suffered damages which the insurance companies will not cover.

However, the overall intention of both the Balearic and central governments is to provide sufficient funds to complement money paid out by the insurance companies so that storm victims are, one way or another, compensated 100 per cent for their losses.

Assessing the damage has been a long and complicated process. Not only were so many people affected by the storm, the two storms caused widespread damage to Majorca and caused the death of two people.

Businesses, especially those on Palma's industrial estates, private homes, government buildings, vehicles, boats and the island's infrastructure all took a heavy beating.

The storms were also the last straw for the new metro, now closed indefinitely because of severe flooding and structural deficiencies, and Palma's new underground grand central station which has also sprung a number of leaks and is also plagued by structural problems.

So far, the businesses and industry sectors have praised the response of the local and central governments and the first pay-outs from the two administrations were due to have been paid last week.

But, there are still a number of businesses on the Can Valero industrial estate in Palma which are unable to return to work because they are awaiting compensation and any further delay could put the government in the eye of a fresh storm of controversy.