CONSIDERING SUING THE CITY COUNCIL FOR DAMAGES

Gómez Ulla merchants, outraged by the works: "They are destroying the business"

"Fed up" with "one construction after another," some claim their losses reach 60 percent. They are considering suing the City Council "for damages"...

August 25 2015 (09:40 WEST)
Gómez Ulla merchants, outraged by the works: They are destroying the commerce
Gómez Ulla merchants, outraged by the works: They are destroying the commerce

Pavement lifted on the edges, fences on the sidewalks, dust, empty or closed shops and merchants full of indignation. This is how the capital's Gómez Ulla street is, where hardly any passers-by are seen and no vehicles, as it has been closed to traffic for weeks. After having experienced one construction after another, floods and, now, a new construction and a new closure to traffic, the merchants of this street declare themselves "fed up" with the situation. They talk about losses that keep growing and customers who stop going to their establishments and, with their premises emptying day by day, their discomfort is such that they are even considering suing the City Council for damages.

With these latest works, all the supply pipes of that street and many other adjoining streets are being changed. The merchants assure that these works are "necessary", but they do not understand that that road and the nearby side streets are closed to traffic, "without leaving access" so that customers can continue to go to their establishments, instead of working in sections. "That's what intersections are for, you make an intersection and you can continue going along the entire street, you finish it and move on to the next one", claims one of the owners of a hairdressing salon. 

However, they denounce that this initial section of the street has been "closed for more than two months", despite the fact that a month ago they met with the Councilor for Public Works, Manuel Hernández Noda, and, according to them, he "promised" them that "in 4 weeks at the latest it would be finished". Now they claim that, however, the works show no signs of ending. "You only have to look, it's one in the afternoon and there's no one working. Where I used to live, they wouldn't let you do this. They worked morning and afternoon and if necessary they also put on a night shift to finish the streets", says the owner of the hairdressing salon. "All we ask is that if the work has to be done, at least provide access, that they don't cut off all the streets and leave people unable to reach the shops", adds his partner.

 "If we count that they closed the street from above, they have already been working for 4 months", explains Lorenzo Suárez, the owner of a supermarket in the area. "Before doing any work, they will have to plan where the cars pass, where the pedestrians pass, you can't just cut it off and leave the shops without access, because we are affected", laments the owner of the hairdressing salon. Meanwhile, the owner of the dealership on the corner adds that things are still being done "on the fly, as always". 

 

"We have losses of up to 60%"


According to them, in the last year at least 5 businesses on the street have closed, because with the street closed and hardly any customers "they couldn't take it anymore". Each of these merchants has their own story of frustration because of the works. Pedro, the owner of the dealership, has several fences in front of his establishment, where an excavator is working hard to drill the ground. "You can't get in or out, taking a car out or in is impossible", he laments. This merchant explains that on more than one occasion he has lost the sale of a vehicle because the buyer could not take it. "This morning they came to test a car, where are we going to test it, inside the store? You can't do that". 

Lorenzo, the owner of the supermarket, explains that he has to do "real wonders" to get the merchandise to the establishment. With Gómez Ulla street closed, the perpendicular Santo Domingo also, as well as the intersection with García Escámez street, the trucks have to park several blocks from his store and, by the time the products arrive, "the food's cold chain has already been broken", he says. The merchant claims that his losses since the works last year (which ended in May 2014) are "up to 60 percent". 

Juan Miguel, who runs a prepared food establishment a few meters from that supermarket, narrates how he had to get rid of "600 euros in food" because of the works. "Health came and because of the dust from the works they threw all the food in the trash, who pays me for that? Nobody. They don't give any help to pay for that or anything", he cries. Meanwhile, the owner of the hairdressing salon across the street comments that only one client has passed through her establishment all morning. "From morning until night, the conversation with customers is always the same: there is no place to park, there is no place to move, we can't get there, I lost my turn, it's getting late... In the end they don't come", continues his partner, who claims that they have lost between 70 and 80 percent of their regular customers. 

 

Chain works and "no compensation"


This is not the first time that the pavement of Gómez Ulla street has been lifted in recent months. The works on this street have become commonplace in recent years, just as it is common for sewage to surface every time it rains in Arrecife, despite the work on the pipes. 

The merchants themselves point out, with indignation, that the street was "closed for seven months" last year. They are referring to the Neighborhood Plan works that concluded in May 2014. Despite having been awarded in 2008, that Plan was left unfinished before the 2011 elections and was not completed until 2014. In the case of Gómez Ulla street, those reforms focused, in addition to improving the sidewalks, repainting the signage and installing pillars to prevent parking in crosswalks, on separating and replacing the rainwater and sewage pipes. Those actions, however, proved insufficient only a few months later, when with the November rains the sewers overflowed again and the city's embarrassments emerged again. The then mayor, Manuel Fajardo Feo, and the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, had to publicly apologize to the residents on that occasion.

"Now they are opening again after having paved the entire street and spending money because pipes have to be put in. What will it be next year? Every year it's something", protests one of them. Lorenzo recalls, annoyed, that after those works they were told that "the City Council would have some kind of compensation with the merchants".  "This year they are closing the street again and the City Council is washing its hands saying that it has nothing to do with it, that the mayor is new and has nothing to do with the one from last year". "Montelongo (current mayor of Arrecife) said that he would compensate us, he told us in words of course, nothing in writing", points out another merchant. However, they all agree in emphasizing that they have not "received anything".

 

"They are forcing us to file a lawsuit"


Faced with this situation, the merchants are even considering suing the City Council for damages. "They are forcing us to go to court to file a lawsuit. We are on the verge of that. We are already in contact with lawyers to file a lawsuit for damages. In a street where you don't have a sign saying what type of work it is, who is responsible, when it starts and when it ends, someone has to have a responsibility for all this", claims Lorenzo.

While everyone nods with a frown at Lorenzo's explanations, one of the owners of the hairdressing salon points out that they could present it "jointly or individually: whichever comes out best and does the most damage". "The City Council is getting all the merchants to close", he adds afterwards. 

And these merchants are visibly worried about their businesses, but also about "the employees, who are going to the street" if they are forced to close, and about their homes, "because we all have mortgages to pay". They feel helpless, "third or fourth class citizens", in Pedro's words. While they reiterate that, "like everyone", they also pay taxes, the owner of the hairdressing salon sums it up in a single sentence: "we pay it with our sweat, but also with our salary". 

Most read