Rafael Recio, socialist representative in the Permanent Deputation of the Andalusian Parliament, has called this Thursday for a "strong public mental health service" for the families affected by the train accident in Adamuz (Córdoba) on January 18, so that "they can face, if they need to, the tragedy" in which 46 people lost their lives.
The PSOE-A deputy made this request in a statement released on the eve of the meeting of the Permanent Deputation, the body that assumes the functions of the Andalusian Chamber when it is dissolved, as is currently the case. At this meeting, a decree-law of economic and fiscal aid for the victims of the railway accident is scheduled to be validated, approved by the Governing Council before the elections held last Sunday, May 17.
Rafael Recio considered that this decree arrives "late," recalling that "the Government of Spain, since February 3," the date on which "it opened the possibility of requesting compensation, has granted more than 136 applications," of which "18 have already been paid and 118 are provisionally approved," as he stressed.
The socialist representative also censured the intention to move forward with this decree "without the Parliament being constituted" and "without the appropriate debate being facilitated by" the regional Chamber.
Although he acknowledged that "all aid is little," and that "all public administrations have the moral duty to accompany and help the families and victims affected by the accident" in Adamuz, Rafael Recio reiterated that the regulatory initiative "arrives late."
He also insisted that the tragedy "does not end when the compensation reaches these families," but rather that "for many families, that is where the pain begins, anxiety begins, sleepless nights begin, difficulties in recovering normality begin," and he stressed that at that moment "a public administration that offers a strong mental health service is clearly needed."
For the socialist deputy, "what the current acting president of the Junta," Juanma Moreno (PP-A), "is demonstrating with this decree is that, unfortunately," in Andalusia there is "no strong Andalusian mental health service."
Rafael Recio has insisted that "the tragedy begins for many families after the compensation," and has added that there are "many families in Andalusia" who "are affected by silent tragedies, suffering for years from the lack of a strong public mental health service" in this community. Therefore, he has warned that the Junta Government maintains the "pending task" of "strengthening the public, public mental healthcare in Andalusia," according to the PSOE-A representative.