|
Issue 219:
30/01/12 - 12/01/12 |
WELCOME to the FRONT PAGE |
|
Unpaid Bills Force Bankruptcy |
Public works contractors have changed bricks and mortar for banners and whistles. The economic stranglehold which the regional government have put these contractors in by not paying their bills has reached boiling point for most. Three hundred people, including business owners, employees and family members took to the streets of Murcia demanded the President of the Region, Ramón Luis Valcárcel, to pay "Now" the debt owed by the regional administration, which amounts to more than €80 million. According to the protestors, the government has run out of time and if the invoices are not paid immediately a domino effect will soon occur resulting in business after business closing its doors and declaring bankruptcy. Forty firms which are all owed large sums of money by the government have formed an action group called Asemaco.
The group's president, Encarna Ingles stated "We have had to remortgage our homes and those of our family members in a bid to keep afloat; we have been paying interest to the banks on these loans since 2010.The repayment plan announced by the government to pay for the unpaid invoices is totally unacceptable. We simply cannot afford to wait another five years before we receive payment. It just is not fair. How the government expects us to carry on in business is unimaginable. We have paid for the materials, we have paid for the labour and we have also already handed over the IVA on these invoices to the government and yet we still have not been paid. This five year payment plan set up by the minster of finance is preposterous and will only lead to more unemployment and further drive the construction industry closer to absolute ruin."
According to Encarnacion Ingles, 1,500 families will be driven "to ruin" and will most likely lose their homes if the government does not immediately pay its bills. In addition to these a further 7,000 indirect jobs will also be affected if the companies who have not been paid are forced to close. According to Asemaco, President Valcárcel recent statements regarding the positive state of Murcia's economy "are not true, the region definitely does have a cash problem, if it didn't have a cash problem, why have we had to remortgage our homes?"
Asemaco has demanded that the regional Government "pay now, for the sake of all businesses and families affected."
In response to the protest the Minister of Public Works,
Jose Maria Riquelme announced that the payment plan would be re-examined to see if improvements could be made.
|
|
|
