What exactly happened last October 29th and how the arrival of the DANA that lashed Valencia– which has already left almost 220 dead in the region – continues to be the focus of political accusations. This Sunday, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, has called for a halt to the “hoaxes and lies” that he claims are being spread against him. about his performance that day, further stating that the Government “is falling into one contradiction after another”. these days through explanations that have been given by entities such as the UME or the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (Aemet).
This is what he said on his arrival at a new meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi), where the president hhas responded to Aemet’s accusations. of this Saturday in which the agency reported that the risk of the Forata dam bursting began to appear at 5:30 p.m. at the Cecopi meeting on the day of the catastrophe, three hours before the alert was launched. Mazón then wondered why, if the Government had this information at that time, it was not possible for the Government to have the information at the time of the disaster. “did not take command” to control the emergency: “Why didn’t he take command, why didn’t he force that ES-Alert to be sent?”.
According to his words, the statement that around 5 p.m. there was already talk of the worrying situation at that point and in the Poyo gully is “materially impossible” because the possibility of the dam bursting did not arrive “until two hours later”: “Do you mean to tell me that the Government at 17.30 hours already knew that 80,000 Valencian lives could be at risk and does not take command because supposedly here in the CECOPI, in a body where the Government itself is part, they are capsizing or are not knowing how to make decisions?”, he insisted.
In view of this scenario, Mazón has assured that it is the own Government of Pedro Sánchez who has to respond to what has happened and has accused the central government of to fall “into one contradiction after another through its entities”. “It is enough of deceiving the people. What has happened is too serious to be changing the story with the UME yes or no with the UME”, said Mazón in reference to to the statements made by the head of the Military Emergency Unit this Saturday in which he assured that his troops had even started to deploy “hours before receiving special orders”.
“Why now it turns out that we see another contradiction on the part of the UME, which is able to say that without the authorization of the Generalitat could not be activated, could not do anythingand at the same time, a few days later, it says that before the authorization of the Generalitat it was already operating, it was already working? What’s the deal? Mazón has indicated.
The president of the Generalitat has also criticized the accusation that he was incommunicado for five hours on the day of the tragedy, an aspect that he has indicated is a “lie” and that has become, as he has considered, in “one of the biggest hoaxes of this time”. “I was not incommunicado at any time. The Cecopi was constituted at 17 hours and at 17.30 I was already receiving and attending calls from the councilor, the president of the Provincial Council…. It is exhausting to be permanently denying lies and hoaxes”, he said, adding that the only communication problems he described occurred when he arrived at the meeting because the telephone lines were down.
The Generalitat, also, by the hand of the Minister of Agriculture, has criticized this Sunday that the “prohibitionism” of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Júcar, which is dependent on the Ministry for Ecological Transition, prevents the municipalities to clean the riverbeds and the gulliessomething that they say would minimize the risk of flooding. “These situations endanger both people and infrastructure,” said the councilor.
Planas defends the Government’s “maximum coordination”.
The response of the Government to Mazón and the Generalitat has come from Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who after a new meeting of the crisis committee for the DANA has assured that from the central Executive has tried to “maximum coordination”, as well as “maximum efficiency”.to respond from the outset to all the effects of October 29.
Similarly, Planas wanted to emphasize that this response has been developed “in a transparent manner” so that all citizens, especially those affected, can be informed of the results of the project. “could be aware of the actions that were being carried out”. and has confirmed that the Government will report on all the management that has been made of this DANA in the appearance that Pedro Sanchez that will occur predictably next November 27. The Minister of Agriculture has also announced this Sunday, the creation of 44 new offices to assist those affected in Valencia, in addition to the 16 existing ones.
The mayor of Cullera denies that Mazón alerted him.
On the other hand, the reproaches between the mayor of Cullera have also continued this Sunday, Jordi Mayor, and Mazón. The former has denied this Sunday that the president alerted him to the meteorological situation and the danger of the DANA during the afternoon of the 29th. Mazón had thus assured him that he had a conversation with the town councilman of the locality Valencian at 18.28 hours where he asked him how the situation was, he told him that it was raining and that no major problems were expected.
However, the mayor of Cullera has acknowledged that this call took place, but he has remarked that Mazón did not talk about the DANA at any time., adding that to this day he still does not know why he contacted him.He did not tell me anything about the emergency, he did not tell me that the Forata dam was at risk of bursting and he did not tell me anything at all”.
According to Mayor has detailed, in that call he assured Mazón that in Cullera it had not rained at all, and it was also he himself who indicated to him that in spite of it they were aware of the risk of overflowing of the river. “Good, good, yes, good. Well, nothing, you record my number, this is my personal number, you record it, and whatever you need, you call me”. Mazón replied. “End of conversation. That’s the conversation,” the mayor has stressed.