T he news of the dismissal of the head of emergency, Jo-sep Gómez Jiménez, has been well received among hospital

workers. The decision was made Wed-nesday at a meeting of those responsi-ble for the SAAS. The main reason li-es in the fact that Gómez would ap-propriate for the triage system used by the hospital (a computer system for the classification of patients at the emergency department based on the severity of the case).

Beyond this alleged irregularity that justice is studying - the mayor who brought the case charged Gomez a few days ago and the SAAS has also decided to file a complaint against the doctor-, until now the head of the de-partment also starred in daily news of the country at the beginning of the year when hospital workers publicly

Satisfaction by dismissal of head of the hospital emergency sector

REACTIONS

Workers celebrate that he will not rejoin and that a «control» of the work place is being done

PS, SDP and UL-ILM are glad of the news but criticize lack of «diligence» of the Government

EL PERIÒDIC ESCALDES-ENGORDANY

@PeriodicAND

MARICEL BLANCH

33 Patients at the emergency sector of the hospital.

«Every public institution must have an exhaustive control of its accounts and its operation»

«In eight years they have aided and led to many irregularities. We are at the end of the legislature and much more work is needed»

«They have not been diligent [DA]. They knew there was a problem and did not face it. They turned a blind eye»

«We said to do an audit to instal order. It was a known problem and they want to put solutions now, at the end of the legislature»

Marcos Gutiérrez

Víctor Naudi

Rosa Gili

Josep Majoral

VOICE: EMERGENCY COMMISSION

SDP COUNSELOR

PS COUNSELOR

UL-ILM COUNSELOR

The happiest with the result were the directors of the PS who, with spokes-woman of Rosa Gili, celebrated that they were «putting order» to the SAAS, despite lamenting that it had not be-en done before. In fact, the judicial in-vestigation started after a complaint brought by the Social Democrats last February after the Court of Auditors repeatedly shown the possible irre-gularities in the hospital. «Everything that is to do with improving the SAAS, an entity that deals with health issu-es and handles public money, will ha-ve our support», said Gili, noting that they do not share the «slow response of the DA party» that «since 2016 ha-ve listened to our complaints of the si-tuation and they struggled to take ac-tion». «They have not been diligent. They knew there was a problem and did not face it. They turned a blind

eye”, the minister said. The Social De-mocrat recalled that they denounced the situation months ago with «a po-tential plot of corruption» in the SAAS and that «the delay in the action of the DA party has harmed us all due to po-or management of public money and the seriousness of talking about the health of citizens ».

The progressive politician Víctor Naudi also regretted that the Gover-nment did not act «more rigorous-ly» and that it had not taken part un-til the justice did not intervene. «Far from fixing the situation they have put people in positions that still ma-naged to increase tensions in the work environment», he said, insis-ting that «in eight years they have en-dorsed and caused the irregularities». From his point of view, «they had to do something years ago, the opposi-

tion often denounced the bad mana-gement». «We are now at the end of the legislature and the ministry has not led the necessary reform», he con-cluded. From their part, UL-ILM, Josep Majoral also emphasized that «for ye-ars the poor management of the SAAS has been talked about». «We asked to make an audit order. It was a known problem and they want to put soluti-ons now, at the end of the legislature», he emphasized.

However, he recalled that it is a ju-dicial matter and that we must see the responsibilities that emerge from it. The Liberal and Democratic group preferred to not make any statements in this regard despite the demand of this newspaper. The Government and the SAAS did not want to evaluate the decision nor explain the changes it will entail. H

The opposition, except liberals criticize lack of «responsibility» of the DA in the face of a «known problem»

denounced the «bad work environ-ment» caused by Gomez himself, who called him a «tyrant». As a result, Go-mez was already out of the emergen-cy department and the management promised the workers that when he returned from his temporary depar-ture, he would not be incorporated in-to the same position. The workers ce-lebrated that finally Gómez will not be reincorporated neither to the head of the emergency sector nor in any po-sition of the SAAS noting that «every institution must have exhaustive con-trol of the accounts and of the opera-tion», according to the spokesman of the emergency department.

PLEASED DESPITE THE DELAY / Political groups also valued positively that the Government has acted in the mat-ter. It must be said that the decision is not passed through the cabinet, but it is the responsibility of the Board of Directors of the SAAS. It is precisely the Minister of Health, Carles Álvarez Marfany, who is the head of the board.

el Periòdicd'Andorra

xxel Periòdic NewsE N G L I S H E D I T I O N M O N 1 0

www.elperiodic.ad MONDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 20182 el Periòdic News

If you want to subscribe to the Periòdic Newscall +376 736 200 or via email comercial@elperiodic.ad

ANA

33 The façade of the Maria Moliner school in Escaldes-Engordany.

@PeriodicAND

TRAFFIC JAMS

The Andorran road network is structured in a large Y from the roundabout of km 0 to the Spanish border,

with a road that extends towards the Pas de la Casa and another that leads to the valley of la Massana, which at the same time has two forks to Ordi-no and Arinsal. A total of 127 kilome-tres that the head of Mobility area, Jaume Bonell, says «we use them tho-roughly». During the winter season, the flow of people that go skiing go-es from south to north during the morning and north to south after fi-ve o’clock in the afternoon. All this causes traffic problems throughout the territory.

The Statistics Department es-timates that in 2017 there were 84,379 Andorran vehicles, of which 57,074, thus, 67%, were cars, repre-senting 1.2 vehicles per person. The-se generate, according to Mobility,

EL PERIÒDIC ANDORRA LA VELLA

135,500 journeys per day and inside the Principality. The transport capa-city of the road network is 900 cars per hour, «beyond that figure traffic jams begin», Bonell points out.

«Possibly there are vehicles that do a shift in the morning to go from home to work and in the afternoon from work to home», explains the head of the area. That is why the Mo-bility cameras detect the moments of conflict on Andorran roads at 8:30 am, at 1 pm, 3 pm and once the chil-dren finish school, from 4:50 pm un-til 7 pm. «Instead of making it easy for parents to go and pick up their children at school, we may have to make it difficult», says Bonell, who sees that the habit of going to pick up the kids in school and bringing them to after-school activities cause traffic on the roads.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS / «The policies of comú car parks with a free half-hour or an hour lead to the promotion of mobility», explains Bonell, since, for

example, an employer may be mo-ving the car all day without having to pay to park, without helping to decrease the volume of traffic. In the same way that building more par-

king spaces, the problem could not be solved either, since, considering that the registration numbers of new vehicles«grows every day», we will get to the point when «we will be

ANA / M.T.

33 Area of the Pla de les Pedres.

Saetde will invest in Concòrdia despite the opposition’s doubts

The Comú of Encamp approved a few days ago the «investment agre-ement» with Saetde for the next two years only with the favourable votes of the majority of UP+DA.

The agreement (which has a va-lidity of five renewable years) pro-vides that Saetde can invest in the terrenys de Concòrdia, specifica-lly in the Pla de les Pedres, outsi-de the current ski domain. There the company wanted to extend the chairlift of the Pla de les Pedres to the Bordes d’Envalira, build a new ski lift in the Bosc de Moretó area, as well as new ski lifts that would allow to descend from the Cubil

PS rejects the agreement and L’A abstains in the voting of the agreement

INVESTMENT AGREEMENT

EL PERIÒDICESCALDES-ENGORDANY

collapsed again and we will have to return to foresee more new measu-res». Bonell gives as a possible soluti-on to pay for the first hour of parking and the second for free, «for those who are parked for a long time they would pay the same, but this way we are not subsidising the mobility of a short duration», he points out.

Another solution to reduce traf-fic would be, according to Bonell, that companies choose to offer wor-kers the possibility of teleworking, this is, working from home, taking advantage of the fact that compu-ter networks allow us to connect with other partners and keep wor-king from any place. He also thoug-ht about other strategies, which may be less applicable in Andorra but have been implemented in other European cities, such as turnpikes to enter the city. «Imagine having a turnpike at the roundabout of la Margineda, that would be impossi-ble», acknowledges the head of the Mobility area. H

Work and school hours, the main cause of traffic in the countryBonell proposes some ideas to solve the issue of collapsing the road with vehicles at rush hours

area. The forecast is that the works are finished by the 2019-2020 se-ason.

LEGAL FORM / Since this space is con-sidered property of the comú, if the administration wants to transfer it to a private, a public tender should be made. To avoid having to take this step, a temporary assignment of the public space has been given. With two conditions: the works carried out are not permanent and that when the comú says that it must be dismantled, the company will have to do it without the right to receive a compensation.

On the other hand, the agree-ment also allows the transfer of the Funicamp lobby so that Saetde can make improvements in the recep-tion of skiers. As a counterpart, the company will invest to expand the capacity by 20%. This will result in

the purchase of a dozen cabins for the Funicamp.

CRITICS / The document, however, did not convince the minority. In fact, PS councillor Joan Sans and Pere Marsenyach voted against the agreement because of the nume-rous «doubts and neglects» genera-ted by the document. At first, they made it clear that «we do not want to go against Saetde nor the comú,» but the lack of a legal and technical report that sustains the agreement makes it suspicious.

On the other hand, the liberal councillors abstained. «We are not opposed to the agreement becau-se we want to get it ahead, but the agreement leaves us much to be desired», said Maribel Lafoz, who argued that «we do not want this agreement to end up turning in-to a future conflict with Saetde». H

MONDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2018 el Periòdic News www.elperiodic.ad 3

TONY LARA

33 Joan Blasi at a press conference.

Joan Blasi will be the new comptroller in Sant Julià

The police will look over vehicles near the schools

Joan Blasi, who has been the deputy comptroller of the Government, will replace Josep Maria Altimir as new comptroller of the Comú of Sant Julià de Lòria. The change has not yet been made effective, but sources of the comú have con-firmed that the transfer of informa-tion has already begun. In fact, both will exchange their positions, since Altimir will return to his job at the Government. It must be said that, li-ke Altimir, Blasi is also among tho-se charged by the Batllia in the in-

vestigation of the irregularities of the SAAS.

Blasi also worked as Secretary of State for Civil Service during the first DA political term. A position he was ceased from by the Govern-ment in May last year due to the res-tructuring of the ministry which is now lead by Eva Descarrega.

The change occurs after Altimir presented his resignation due to va-rious discrepancies with the way the leaders of Sant Julià worked. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the approval of the credit supplement to commission a feasi-bility study to build a zip-line in Na-turlandia.

The decision to invest in the study took place last July and had a cost of 400,000 euros. According

Altimir gives up his joband will re-take hisplace in Government

COMÚ MOVEMENT CONTROL CAMPAIGN

EL PERIÒDICESCALDES-ENGORDANY

With the beginning of the new scho-ol year which starts today, the Poli-ce has decided to launch a new cam-paign in the immediate vicinity of the schools of the Principality, whe-re the incorrect transport of young children can be detected and, if ne-cessary, the imprudent behaviour of parents will be penalised.

Therefore, as explained in the Cir-culation Code, all those drivers who, for example, leave their vehicle par-ked with the engine on in front of educational centres will be sanctio-

They will watch for incorrect transport of minors and adult imprudent behaviour

EL PERIÒDICESCALDES-ENGORDANY

ned, as well as those who transport more people than allowed, children under 10 in the front seat or other actions related to the documentati-on of the vehicle and the ITV (vehicle inspection).

Concerning the buses, they will control the fact of leaving the en-gine on, technical inspections, the state of the tires and the maximum authorised number of passengers, sitting and standing.

All these actions are part of the action plan to reduce accidents and aim to raise awareness among pa-rents and bus drivers about the cor-rect way how to take children to school.

The campaign will begin at 7 am today and will end at 7 pm on the 24th of this month. H

to sources, Altimir disagreed with the initiative and did not agree with the amount that was devoted to the technical analysis of the ride. In fact, the comptroller issued a re-port contrary to the approval of a credit supplement that in total for the construction of the new zip-li-ne was close to five million euros, but the comú majority still voted in favour. H

MARICEL BLANCH

33 A girl on a bicycle in Escaldes-Engordany.

@PeriodicAND

CHANGE OF HABITS

Within the new mobi-lity plan of the cen-tral valley, in Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-

Engordany, it is planned to incor-porate segregated bike lanes in dif-ferent streets with the aim of «in-corporating bicycles» as a means of transport and to encourage coe-xistence with vehicles. For the he-ad of the Mobility area, Jaume Bo-nell, a good example to promote this use is the one that the city co-uncil of Barcelona has implanted in Avinguda Paral·lel with two la-nes to go in both directions in the middle of the road. While recogni-zing that «you must be daring to do that», the head of the area beli-eves that it works well enough and helps the citizen who travels by car «internalise that there are also bi-cycles» around him. In this way, «if on Avinguda Tarragona the per-son has a segregated bike lane that works safely, he may dare to grab the bike», and leave the car parked.

Segregated lanes to promote real bicycle mobility in AndorraBonell believes that people won’t be safe until they are not built

EL PERIÒDICESCALDES-ENGORDANY

SEGREGATED RAILS / At the end of Au-gust, Bonell already announced that the streets that would incor-porate a bicycle lane are Nacions Unides, Consell de la Terra and a part of Prat de la Creu. With the success achieved from the Cicland test months, an exclusive lane for cyclists was the main claim for this new plan.

«It is very important that there are bicycle lanes in the central va-lley, but not as we know them nor-

mally, but that these must be se-gregated to offer more and better security when it comes to trans-por», Bonell said at the time. The fact of having these lanes segrega-ted from normal traffic, he explai-ned, means that it will not require a specific campaign of coexistence between cyclists and drivers, since «each one will be on their own la-ne and be responsible for its rules so that the bicycles will be isolated from other vehicles». H

ANA

33 Vehicles for sale at la Fira d’Andorra.

Vehicle registrations in the co-untry grew 13% in August, in re-lation to one year ago, as reported last Thursday by the Statistical De-partment through a statement. To be specific, 338 vehicles were re-gistered, of which 235 were cars (18.1% increase), 68 motorcycles and mopeds (5.6% decrease), 28 trucks and pick-up trucks (47.4% increase) and 7 other vehicles (de-crease by 22.2%).

The increase registered in Au-gust confirms the upward trend in registrations in general in the

INCREASING TREND

13% more registrations compared to August 2017The eighth month of the year signs 338 vehicles, most of them are cars

last months. For example, from Ja-nuary to August 2018, 7.9% more cars were registered than in 2017 (3,169 compared to 2,936 last year).

If the subdivision is done by ty-pe of fuel, gasoline vehicles purc-hased in August grew by 18.8% and diesel fuel by 4.7%. With regard to electric cars, twelve were registe-red in August, one more than a ye-ar ago, and six hybrids, also one more than the previous year. Fi-nally, within the group of vehicles without fuel, there were six, the sa-me as in August 2017.

Finally, the Statistics Depart-ment also shows the balance of registrations with adjusted data, that is, once the variations caused by the effects of the calendar are eliminated. In this case, the incre-ase in August is reduced to 1.3%. H

EL PERIÒDICESCALDES-ENGORDANY

MONDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2018 el Periòdic d’Andorra4 www.elperiodic.ad

«A real deficit, contributions in the health sector is lacking, it should be increased»JACINT RISCO Representative of the pensioners at the CASS

MARICEL BLANCH

Jacint Risco, the new pensioner’s re-presentative at the board of directors of the CASS, considers that the public debate about the increase in retire-ment contributions is eclipsing a mo-re priority need: the increase in taxes for the branch of health. As a pensi-oner lawyer specializing in social se-curity issues, Risco believes that the 10% that is being contributed to this concept is insufficient.The winning candidate argues that his positioning around the measures proposed by the parapublic is to deal with the deficit.

–Shuld the retirement age rise from 65 to 67 years as proposed by the CASS and from the business sector?–The position of the Federation of the Elderly does not support this idea. We do not defend it. However, we can pro-long it a bit. It does not make sense to shorten it. The right to work is a cons-titutionally protected right and the person who wants to work after 65 can do so. This is my personal opinion.

–But the proposal of the parapublic is to turn what is now an option into an obligation, right? The possibility to work after 65 is already here.–You can now work until 72, but the elderly complains that a lot of people reach 65 and receive the CASS pensi-on while receiving the salary of the company where they work. If you ha-ve not retired, you do not have to co-llect the pension.

–Would be sufficient to guarantee the reduction of the CASS deficit with the impact of this measure? –It would not have much effect, maybe it guarantees a couple of years. That is what French experts say.

–What initiatives would have more im-pact then?–To raise the quotes. Now it’s charged like in France and half is paid.

–Should they have to be increase gra-dually?–If in 40 years they have not increased it, what can not be done now is to do it at once, since the business fabric will suffer a lot. The proposals of the CASS are reasonable. I find that going from 10 to 18% in seven or eight years is fi-ne. In a year or two it can not be done.

–Should contributions be the same re-garding worker and entrepeneur? –It should be kept more or less the sa-me proportion as now. That is, if 12% is traded -a 2% is paid by the worker and 10%, the employer-, the 18% to be achieved should come from the employer by 12% and the worker in 6%. Nor can we lose much purcha-sing power to the worker because this would have an impact on sales.

–What is your position on the revalua-tion of the point?–If as proposed, the conversion coeffi-cient rises from 9 to 12, of course, pen-sions will fall. That is, if I have to pay

–What happens with money that has been paid throughout a life of a pensi-oner who dies before receiving it?–If i have been contributing for 40 ye-ars old and if I die now half will go to the widow and the rest is for the fund.

–What do you think of the current pro-portion between retired people and employees?–Now it is four workers per pensioner, but the tendency is for the population to grow older and increase the num-ber of pensioners. When the ratio is not 4-1, it may be 4-2 or 4-3 in a near future.

–We will have to think about new sour-ces of income. For example, the rate of alcohol and tobacco?–It’s not a bad idea. The Federation of the Elderly supprts the measure. I must also say that the great concern is focusing on pensions and we forget that in order to receive a pension we must be healthy. In the health sector there is a problem that was not the-re before. Now there is a deficit. This branch has to be taken care of.

–What should be paid for the health sector?–Now a 10% is paid: 4% is paid by the worker and 6% by the entrepe-neur. To this we add the 12% we pay for retirement and in total we reach the 22% we pay today. Nothing to do with 36 and 40% that are listed in co-untries such as Spain or France for retirement plans. H

33 Jacint Risco, representative of the pensioners at the board of directors of the CASS.

–Do we have to set a minimum pensi-on to live with dignity?–It has to be €1,000 as the federation claims, but where do we get the mo-ney? We should gradually improve with the revaluation of pensions abo-ve the CPI. It would be good to set a mi-nimum pension, but the system does not work like that. Pensions are low because we pay few taxes.

–Before people could decide what percentage they contributed.–Before that, there was the possibi-lity of quoting between 2, 4 or 6%, but almost everyone opted for 2%, and for that reason there are pensions of 300 or 400 euros. With the 2015 law, everyone is entitled to retirement: 2.5% (the labor force) and 9.5% (the employer’s share), which makes a to-tal of 12.

–Should there also be a maximum for the amounts of pensions?–Yes, it’s something missing in the CASS proposals. There should be a li-mit, like the one with disability pen-sions, which can not be more than 2.5 times the minimum wage.

–However, the majority do not receive such high pensions.–It is usually about 3,000 points about €500 per month, but because they paid very little. Those who contribu-te for retirement spend it in six or se-ven years, from 65 to 72. Of the 72 and until they die, they receive the pensi-on from what the other citizens pay.

1,000 euros in 10 years, they are 100. But if I have to collect 1000 in 12 years, the pension will lower me in quantity because I will receive less each month (from 100 to 50). In the end I will char-ge 1,000 euros equally, but 50 each month. This means that those who enter the new retirement will have a monthly reduction of 20%, because their pension will be scheduled for 12 years and not for 10.

–Is this a solution?–This will slow the process down be-cause we will have to pay less in mo-re time. It should be noted that tho-se who already pay for the pension will not be affected by the revaluati-on. There can be no retroactive law that reduces the retirement pension of those who are already receiving it.

«The income of the rate for alcohol and tobacco is directed more to the health sector than the retirement plans»

«Health expenses will increase much more and although there are more contributors, the deficit will not be able to be covered»

«The ideal, as the White Paper on the retirement of the EU says, is to have three pensions: company public, private plan»

EL PERIÒDIC ESCALDES-ENGORDANY

@PeriodicAND

AN_CT_015S_BC00_10_09_18AN_CT_016S_BC00_10_09_18AN_CT_017S_BC00_10_09_18AN_CT_018S_BC00_10_09_18