ISSUE NO. 1678
31 Aug - 6 Sept 2017
Safety fears RETIREMENT and a lack of recruits mean that A l m e r i a i s se t to lose hundreds of Local Police officers in the next decade. The force is growing older and there are not enough police on the beat to ensure security, say the PSOE. There could soon be just one police officer for every 1,000 residents. Many officers are taking advantage of an early retirement package being o ff e r e d by Madrid.
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Cucumber battle in court
War is over
Fairground fighting A PRISON sentence has been doled out to a foreigner convicted of drunkenly slashing a man with a knife in Campohermoso. The two got into a heated discussion at the f a i rg r o u n d d u r i n g t h e festivities last month. The defendant pulled a small knife and slashed the victim in the arm and stomach. His jail sentence was reduced to two years after even the victim suggested that booze was the real villain.
WAR IS OVER: Hamburg blamed Almeria company for cucumber deaths. By Matthew Elliott A legal battle between Hamburg and Almeria has come to an end. One of the province’s biggest fruit and veg companies was cleared of causing an E-coli outbreak in Germany six years ago. The city of Hamburg accused Hortofruticola Costa de Almeria of exporting the E-coli tainted cucumber which killed 46 people in 2011. It was a huge scandal at the time and the German authorities have pursued the case relentlessly for six years. Biochemical analysis has now completely absolved Hortofruticola of any blame. The company is expecting a multimillion euro settlement from Hamburg as compensation for blackening its
name, and damaging the reputation of its farmers. “This judgement clears the unfairly tarnished name of our company, the work of our farmers, and the whole of Almeria,” Hortofruticola wrote on its Facebook page. “Respect for our crops is our mark of quality and trust to our millions of customers in five continents,” it added. In the aftermath of the E-coli outbreak and accusations against Hortofruticola, Andalucia’s exports to Germany collapsed by more than 30 per cent. The EU was forced to provide €200 million in aid to farmers hit by fears of E-coli contamina-
tion. Andalucian farmers needed a €33 million aid package from Madrid to stay afloat until the crisis abated. Andalucia’s agriculture minister, Rodrigo Sanchez, welcomed the ruling from a German court. “This represents the closure of the worst crisis the Spanish horticultural sector has ever experienced,” he said. Sanchez was scathing of Hamburg councillor Cornelia Prufer-Storcks, who aired the first allegations, calling her statements “deeply wrong and a great injustice to Andalucia.”
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Rewiring electric avenue SERIOUS investment in electricity generation is set to benefit residents of Nijar and Vera. A total of €3 million will be ploughed into generators across the province, especially in the Cabo de Gata area, to ensure a regular, uninterrupted electricity supply. The joint project between the state and the Endesa power company will get underway next year. Nijar’s flickering San Jose line will see the bulk of the investment. Endesa has blamed salt in the air for complicating the wiring around Nijar and the Natural Park. The investment will nullify the threat of a severe forest fire being sparked by a power outage. Last June some 70 hectares of land was destroyed due to a faulty Nijar power line. Endesa has also pledged to improve electricity infrastructure for smaller, interior towns, including Purchena.