The spokespersons of the Partido Popular, Unidas Podemos and Ciudadanos demanded yesterday that the bus service on Ibiza be free between September 1st and December 31st of this year like the train and the metro on Mallorca. With nuances, obviously, both on how to do it and on what they think about the agreement reached on Tuesday between the president of the Balearic Govern, Francina Armengol, and the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
For the moment, the presidents of the councils of Ibiza and Formentera have not expressed themselves on the matter. Moreover, both the popular Vicent Marí and the socialist Ana Juan, refused yesterday to offer their opinion on the bonus to the bus transport. In the Consell de Ibiza they referred all public manifestation to the second vice-president and insular councilor of Transport, Javi Torres, who accused the Govern and the Government of “trying to confuse citizens with percentages and clauses that serve to pressure the Consell”.
In this sense, he recalled that the 70% reduction in the price of the bus is conditional on the Consell de Ibiza to contribute 20%. “The Govern is playing with the Consell’s own resources without consultation,” continued Torres, who already confirmed after the announcement made on Ibiza by the Balearic Minister of Mobility, Josep Marí Ribas Agustinet, that the Consell will take on the 20%. “Ibiza will have to settle for 70% discount on bus passes, while Mallorca will finance more than 50% for bus passes and 100% for the train. This is a clear example that the president and the conseller have only negotiated in favor of Mallorca and not the islands as a whole,” he continued. Torres has already announced that the intention of the institution is to continue negotiating to get the Govern to accept the remaining percentage so that the bus is free on Ibiza the last four months of the year.
In the Consell de Formentera neither the president nor any of the councilors had five minutes yesterday to speak to this newspaper, as justified from the communication department, which sent a brief message: “The Consell is analyzing and defining the measures to be applied to address the escalation of prices that is occurring in the transport sector. We are waiting to have new meetings with the Govern to have more information on how they will be applied”.
Half and half for bus transport
Antonio Saucedo, island councilor for Unidas Podemos, also defended yesterday that the objective should be free bus transport on Ibiza. “It is a good agreement, but like everything in this world, it can be improved,” said Saucedo, who believes that it is the Consell de Ibiza who should take on the remaining 30% that, for now, citizens must pay. The representative of the purple party in the Consell de Ibiza defends that the distribution is 50%, that is, that half is paid by the central government and the other half by the Consell de Ibiza.
Saucedo believes that these four months of free bus services would serve not only to help citizens in the complicated economic situation, but also to encourage the population of the island to use public transport: “With the pandemic, people do not feel comfortable or safe and it would be a way to get used to things. “In addition, the more the bus is used, the more the saturation on the roads of Ibiza is reduced and a safer transport is promoted, since there are fewer accidents, and less pollution”, continues the councilor of Unidas Podemos, who takes the opportunity to denounce the shortcomings of public transport on the island: lack of lines and frequency and vehicles without access for people with disabilities.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.