The Southern-Granada Health Authorities, belonging to the Junta, has assured that the project for the new medical centre is moving along.

The fact is that this has been dragging on since 2015 despite the Mayor of Vélez de Benaudalla constantly urging the Junta to make good on its pledge.

This statement from the public health authorities was in answer to the Mayor, Francisco Gutiérrez, who had demanded to know what was happening and at what stage the project was.

He claims that he had received no information of this from the Junta whereas the local leader of the PP (the party that governs the Junta) “possesses this information.”

According to the said health authorities, the Área de Gestión Sanitaria Sur de Granada, “Although the construction of this kind of infrastructure corresponds to municipal administrations, the Servicio Andaluz de Salud is making good with its pledge to provide the town with a new centre.”

The Mayor on the other hand says that the only thing that the Town Hall knows is that the project budget was increased by 817,000 euros and that a construction company was carrying out surveys during the electoral campaign but they have not been able to arrange a meeting with the SAS to find out more.

As far as the request to have two doctors on duty during the summer period instead of now only one, the Southern-Granada branch of the SAS says that all medical centres are maintained open despite there being a lack of staff available.

They say that they have offered 4,780 temporary-work contracts to cover posts where staff are taking their summer break and that 22 medical staff have been assigned to those towns with the largest summer influxes, guaranteeing that all medical centres are open every day this summer. They conclude that there are just no applicants available to fill all the posts that they would like to provide over the summer.

Whatever the case, locals from Vélez de Benaudalla are not happy lately after finding out that the service provided in the local doctor’s surgery has dropped from two to just one doctor. Vélez de Benaudalla is not alone as similar circumstances exist in Albuñol, Albondón, Sorvilán and Alfornón.

(News/Noticias: Velez de Benaudalla, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)