The City Council of Avinyonet del Penedès (Alt Penedès) has welded the streetlight records of much of the municipal area. The measure has been applied especially to the access roads to the different nuclei, such as the Gunyoles Y Can Mitjansafter the last six years the municipality has lived at least an annual cable theft, a fact that has left these avenues without light for days. Since 2016, the spent to repair damage to lighting theft has exceeded 50,000 euros. “We are very tired of this situation”, explains the mayor, Cesar Herraizwhich concludes that “there was no other alternative” than welding, since repeated complaints to the Mossos d’Esquadra had failed to drive out the thieves.
“Each year we are spending about €8,000 to repair lampposts where the wiring has been stolen,” Herraiz protests, lamenting that “it is money that is sacrificed while it could be used for improve the streets or expand social aid”. The mayor recalls that the municipal budget is approximately 2 millions of euros.
cheapest solution
After several internal meetings to try to stop the robberies of copper cable, finally this summer the government has concluded that the only way to solve the situation was to solder the small opening at the bottom of the streetlights. With the manhole welded, thieves no longer have any point to grab the wires. Although this can also make it difficult for technicians to work in the event of a breakdown, Hérraiz maintains that it will always be cheaper cut the lamppost not to replace any more stolen cables.
The mayor emphasizes that, every time the lighting material has been stolen, there has been an “immense cost” for the City Council, both financially and organizationally, since the operators of the brigade they have had to focus on repairs “for a week and a half” and neglect other tasks. “Not forgetting that the affected vial is completely in the dark for days,” she adds.
reproach the judges
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The first lampposts began to be welded at the end of July to the access roads to Gunyoles and Can Mitjans, and the same measure will soon be made to some roads that reach Avinyó Nou. of the near 250 lampposts that the municipality of Avinyonet has, Herraiz calculates that before the end of the year they will have welded almost half. Those located in streets with many houses will be exempt, since it ensures that they are points where thieves do not usually act.
The mayor regrets that steel cable theft is a widespread practice, especially during the last decade, and points out that other mayors of Alt Penedès have also experienced repetitive cases. Herraiz criticizes the judges for “impunity” with which the thieves move and claim more police surveillance in the region to ward off future robberies.