Protest against Arcgisa charges rise

Arcgisa HQ, Los Barrios

JIMENA The Plataforma de Parados (Unemployed 'platform', or group) announced recently that it planning to organize a protest, including signed petitions, against an imminent price rise in charges from Arcgisa, the Mancomunidad company that provides water, sewage, street cleaning and rubbish collection. The organization considers the rises 'abusive' and impacting directly on 'families, and especially, the unemployed'. The campaign is to be titled Di que no (Say No). The Plataforma has been contacting all political parties with a view to protest against something they consider 'inappropriate for the times we live in.' The brief story behind Arcgisa is as follows:>>>
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Set up as INDECGISA in 2007, the company, now ARCGISA (Aguas y Residuoes del Campo de Gibraltar S.A.), is wholly owned by the Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campo de Gibraltar, the organization that brings together the seven municipalities of the Campo: Tarifa, Algeciras, Los Barrios, San Roque, La Línea, Jimena and Castellar.

For innumerable political motives, too many and too complex (i.e. silly) to mention in this 'brief' piece, it has never in fact worked for all the municipalities in all the activities it offers: Water supply and treatment, rubbish collection and processing, street cleaning and maintenance, among others.

However, there are many who insist that, because it was created by the PSOE parties of the area (which explains some of the motivation above), it served as a wonderful opportunity to practice the very Spanish sport of enchufismo, a word variously translated as nepotism, string-pulling, etc. but handsomely understood by the saying 'It's not what you know, but who'.

Naturally, the company has run at a loss for a number of years, which might well account for its imperious need to raise charges as from January 1, 2012. The new rates, announced last week, were going to equal the Consumer Price Index, that is, 2.9%, for the three basic services: water supply, rubbish collection and processing. However, a further rise of 8.4% (i.e. CPI + 5.5%) for domestic rubbish collecting, which is the company's principal activity, aimed at 'compensating for deals made with small and medium businesses' in the area.

Needless to say, a rise of almost 10% might well be a good reason to protest, so if you find yourself faced with an irate protester asking to sign a petition, you might as well.