The Minister of the Sea and the Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, insisted this Wednesday that the top officials of PortsIB were not aware of the mud extraction tasks carried out in the area of the ramp of the shipyard of the port of Ciutadella.
He emphasized this during his speech at the Territorial Planning Commission of Housing, Mobility, Sea, and Water Cycle of the Parliament, where he admitted that there was a failure in communication between the person in charge of the port of Ciutadella and the official in charge of Maintenance and Works of the Ministry.
"The person in charge of the port understood that she had been given the green light for the operation and the official understood that he had not given the definitive green light," Lafuente said.
In this line, he defended that "at all times, actions were taken in good faith" and that the procedure was carried out in accordance with current regulations. He detailed that 14.67 euros were paid to the company contracted to carry out the work. "The legal report supports this budget by stating that it was an emergency situation," he asserted.
The minister specified that a total of 216 cubic meters of waste were removed, which were deposited in the colársega area for drying prior to the final transfer to the corresponding location.
During his speech, Lafuente accused the leftist groups of "partisan use" of this action and criticized that Més per Menorca "already spoke of the toxicity of the mud when it had not yet been analyzed."
The regional official admitted that when he received the call from the mayor of Ciutadella, Maria Jesús Bagur, alerting him to the presence of mud in the port, he was unaware that the work had begun.
"It was then that I requested that the waste be removed as soon as possible to the appropriate place," Lafuente assured, reproaching that "the City Council filed a complaint with Seprona before talking to the Ministry. I do not think that is the appropriate procedure," he emphasized.
After being informed of the mud extraction, Lafuente explained that he ordered the preparation of an internal report and commissioned an analysis of the material, which confirmed that it was not dangerous.
"Because action had to be taken quickly, there was a defect in information between Ports IB and the port of Ciutadella. We understand that no one acted negligently to cause any harm," he stated.
Lafuente has added that the sediments were blocking the use of the ramp and that, in light of the imminence of Holy Week, it was considered that the intervention was urgent to allow individuals, regular users of the facility, to take out their boats during the holiday days.