Dear Editor,
 
You carried a letter in your November edition contrasting the respective situations of the Alfamar and Carmenes del Mar urbanisations in respect of work being undertaken, or otherwise, by various arms of government to stabilise the hillsides on which they sit.
 
In reality the two situations cannot be compared. The work undertaken at Alfamar is ostensibly aimed at preventing the CN340 from collapsing down the hillside into the sea. However the work is only being undertaken because of a 1995 judgement of the Supreme Court requiring the Ministerio de Fomento to correct their previous bodged extension of the CN340, which caused the Alfamar hillside  to become unstable.
 
The judgement of the Supreme Court used the words “reckless”  and “madness,” amongst others, to condemn the way in which Fomento originally undertook the extension of the N340  below Alfamar in the 1980’s. The judgment  required Fomento to put in place measures to re-stabilise the hillside to prevent any further destruction of property on the urbanisation. 

Of course, in the manner of Fomento, it did no such thing. The heavy rains in the winter of 2009/10, and the subsequent landslip on the urbanisation, caused the N340 to crumble before our eyes. Hence the belated €20m project to rectify the problem.
 
Whilst Fomento has latterly recognised the urgent need to undertake the works, it bizarrely accepts no responsibility for the considerable damage caused to property and the fabric of the Alfamar urbanisation. It also refuses any dialogue with property owners directly affected by the current works. We suffer daily from considerable health threatening noise and airborne pollution, to the point it makes our homes uninhabitable during the working week.
 
The arrogance and incompetence of Fomento know no bound. The project, originally planned as two six month activities, has now been 16 months in duration, and we are told it may take a further 12 months to complete, apparently at a revised cost of €34m; a huge overrun.
 
Whilst some argue that residents on Alfamar will eventually benefit from the current works, it does come at a huge personal and financial cost to those directly affected. It’s also a position we should have never been placed in if Fomento had acted on the judgement of the Supreme Court at the time.
 
Yours sincerely
Andrew Pritchard
Alfamar