People Power

Puerto de la Duquesa, after years of gentle decline and mismanagement, is now set to become what it was originally intended to be, the ‘Jewel in Manilva’s Crown’, and it is all thanks to the residents, businesses and the Mayoress of Manilva, Antonia Muñoz.

Residents and visitors to the port of Duquesa will be well aware of the problems faced by the urbanisations in that area and the controversy concerning the Entidad Urbanistica de Conservacion El Hacho. Following the residents campaign to take legal action against it, a meeting was held on the 9th April resulting in the Mayoress of Manilva intervening on the residents behalf. During the meeting that lasted over six hours there was heated debate between members of EUC El Hacho, lawyers representing residents, presidents of some of the urbanisations and members of businesses in the port. As a result the president of EUC El Hacho stood himself and his committee down and ordered a short recess. Immediately after the recess the Mayoress took control of the meeting. She highlighted the importance of El Hacho and in particular the Port.She said that in view of the conflict and controversy over the Entity during the last year and the current situation of the budget and finances, she would take the position of President. She advised she would select members for a new committee to help her investigate the existing structure, paperwork and financial situation. She envisaged that after a period of approximately 2 years the entity would no longer exist in its current form and the responsibility for the management would pass to the Ayuntamiento.

Following the meeting, one of the primary instigators of the action, Nicky Conway-Hann said, “We would like to congratulate and thank the members of the Plataforma (resident’s association) on the success of our campaign due to their collaboration and their confidence in us and our lawyers. After a long year of hard work and by overcoming all sorts of obstacles we can finally announce the end of an Entity imposed on us without our vote and over which we had no control. This hard won success would not have been possible without the sympathy and justice demonstrated by Antonia Muñoz, Mayoress of Manilva, confronting many pressures on her from all angles. We must not forget that the Entity was voted for unanimously by the Ayuntamiento of previous Mayors and that, now, for the first time in the last decade, we have a Politician in the Ayuntamiento, Antonia Muñoz who has the strength and sense of Justice to take action in favour of the People.Withstanding critics and insults, she has stoically fulfilled her obligations to defend her constituents and has demonstrated that actions speak louder than words.”

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