A total of five of the Plan E projects will not be finished on time, it was revealed at the beginning of the week. In theory this could mean that they will be unable to receive all of their funding, although the Town Halls in question were quick to point out that an extension of six months could be granted, and that they were all currently in the process of doing just this.
The Plan E program was an €8 billion stimulus program financed by the Government to help create short term employment. However, the plan has been heavily criticised in some quarters as it only kept many people off the dole temporarily, and at the beginning of the year the jobless figure will finally hit 20 per cent as 250,000 jobs are lost at the start of next year when the projects reach their conclusion. The risk, say the critics, is that a further jump in unemployment will delay the return to growth, boosting the budget deficit and borrowing costs.
“What they’ve done is just put the unemployed on ice,” said Fernando Fernandez, a professor at IE business school in Madrid, and former International Monetary Fund economist. “There’s been a series of transitory measures based on the idea the crisis would be short, and now we have to deal with the consequences.”
In Ibiza Town the €3 million project to build a new swimming pool in es Viver should be finished by February, according to Councillor Joan Rubio, whilst the asphalting of several roads in the town should be completed by the end of January. He explained that the delay in the former had been caused by the fact that the prefabricated structure had taken much longer to arrive than expected, whilst the latter project had to be suspended due to the tourist season for fear of disruption. However, he said a six month deferment was being sought, although both projects would be finished by the end of February.
San Antonio will also be seeking more time to complete work on the new maritime museum which is being built in the old lighthouse at Coves Blanques. Councillor Joan Panatleoni explained that several unexpected complications had arisen during the restoration process, although he was confident that the project, which is costing €404,921, would be finished before the second deadline.
The other two projects are both in San Jose. The first involves the repair of a 100-year-old house, Can Curt. According to Councillor Paquita Ribas the delays have been caused by problems encountered involving the beams and some walls within the property. The other project which has encountered a considerable delay is the asphalting of avenida San Agustin. She explained that they wanted to take advantage of the fact that most of the road had been dug up, to pass both electric and telephone cables. However, she added, all of the other projects within the municipality would be finished this month.
It appears the island is not alone, as according to recent Government data only 11.5 per cent of all projects have been completed, which will mean most of those hired will lose their jobs between now and January as the projects slowly draw to a close.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero recently announced a new stimulus for 2010, but on a much smaller scale, although it is hoped it can create around 200,000 jobs.
The news comes as jobless numbers on the island hit 11,760, a rise of 18.1 per cent from November 2008, their highest levels since records began back in 1987. The only previous time the 11,000 barrier has been broken was back in January 1989 and 1990. Taking into account the fact there was a smaller active population on the island ensures the figures in those years were actually far worse.
Of the current total, 7,133 are Spanish – a rise of 20 per cent, whilst non-Spanish EU members saw the number of people out of work hit 1,815, up 27 per cent from last year. Despite fears the non-EU community would be the worst hit, it suffered an increase of just 5.3 per cent, with 2,202 people officially out of work.
Joana Barcelo, the Balearic Minister for Employment, said she was confident the new Plan E would help reduce these numbers significantly over the next few months. She claimed the figure in the Balearics would not reach 95,000 which had at first been feared, although Antoni Riera, the president of the economic research centre (CRE) in the Balearics, said it would more than likely hit 100,000.
The situation was no better on a national level with a total of 3,868,946 people out of work at the end of November, again another record.
