Dearer water and rubbish collection

PALMA City Council's water and rubbish collection company, Emaya, is to ask for a 3.4 percent rise in water and drainage rates for this coming year, while it wants to introduce an extra 8 percent in rubbish collection taxes. The city council reported that the proposals will be put before the Board of Emaya today for official approval, and then will be passed to the council for ratification. The council say that a 3.4 percent increase in tariffs “constitutes an increase below the Consumer Price Index (IPC) forecast for the current year”, although from January to October, the Balearic IPC has grown by 2.6 percent in contrast to the natinal figure of 3.1 percent. Nevertheless, the council emphasised that this rise in rates “is not a substantial increase but merely takes into account the growth of the Cost of Living Index. Financially, it can be considered a ‘zero' increase.” Furthermore, Emaya is planning to cut current water and drainage taxes for large families by 8 percent.
The municipal company justified the increase in rubbish collection taxes by pointing to “the significant investment that has been made” over the last year to improve the service. Specifically, Emaya referred, amongst other expenses, to the acquisition of specially adapted seagoing vessels for cleaning coastal waters, and “the setting up in public places of hundreds of 3'200 litre containers to facilitate selective rubbish collection, so that glass, cardboard and paper and plastic can be separated.”