A real hot potato. This is what the new regional government found in Sitval, the public company responsible for managing the ITVs of the Valencian Community. The first is the collapse of the service in the summer months, then the conflict between workers and workers, and finally profit of 17 million euros at the end of the year, but by a significant margin. And much of the blame for this high figure lies with the lack of investment of 8 million euros, for which the Ministry of Innovation, Trade, Industry and Tourism blamed the company’s previous leaders. With this panorama, these investments will be transferred to the next year, Creation of a new service line at Benidorm station, the only project planned for the province of Alicante. In fact, most of the action will take place in both the provinces of Valencia and Castellón.
The previous Botanical Government had decided to roll back public management of ITVs after 25 years of privatisation, with the aim of reducing user rates, among other issues. The formula chosen for this purpose was to create Sitval, a publicly traded company. Started serving throughout the Valencian Community last FebruaryBut it has previously maintained a difficult confrontation with companies whose concessions have expired and want to renew them.
Then came the regional elections and with them the change of Director, which revealed a rather complex picture in the public company and the service offered. The first problem he had to deal with was the long waiting lists for vehicles to undergo technical inspection at most of the stations; This made it necessary to reinforce the staff during the summer months, when the demand for the service was higher.
And almost immediately labor conflict broke out.Because, as reported by the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, the agreement reached by the previous Government on the equalization of salaries in all seasons did not include mandatory reports from the different relevant departments. This situation forced us to enter into a new negotiation with the unions. A context where even a strike call is on the table. However, the talks reached a successful conclusion, with an agreement that will benefit approximately 400 of the lowest-paid workers, especially in the province of Alicante.
But the surprises didn’t end there. During the preparation of next year’s regional budget draft, it was learned that Sitval will close this year with a profit of 17.3 million euros, almost twice the planned.
Reason? Ministry sources attribute this high figure to the following: Approximately 8 million Euros programmed in terms of investments throughout 2023 did not materializeThis prevented us from addressing the issue of improving the stations or even starting the construction of new stations. The regional department blames the previous managers for this situation and other difficulties that have had to be faced in the last few months.
However, our goal is to realize these investments next year. A program of action focusing mainly on the province of ValenciaWith the construction of new stations in Torrent, Mercavalència and Riba-roja de Túria, the land on which the facilities were planned to be built in the latter case changed hands. The public company also planned a new station in the Castellón municipality of Alcalà de Xivert.
The only project planned in the province of Alicante is the commissioning of a new service line at Benidorm station, of which there will now be four. The aim is to reduce the saturation recorded by the facilities..
Sitval’s budget will be 73.6 million euros next yearConsidering that the investments will come from the previous year, we expect to close the year with a profit of 17 million dollars.
Staff reinforcement to speed up appointments
Reducing waiting lists for appointments on ITV in the Valencian Community remains one of the most important jobs of the Sitval company; Therefore, it is planned to double the staff responsible for the telephone service from the current eleven operators. total 22.
This situation was announced at the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, and it was announced that, apart from the website, there is a telephone service that is currently unable to work more efficiently due to the limited personnel of the operators.
Formulas are also being worked on to remove the barrier to appointments on the web, taking into account that there are some stations, such as Benidorm, where it is currently impossible to make an appointment in the next two months. According to the same sources, this is partly due to the fact that there are workshops that reserve a block schedule to inspect their customers’ vehicles and do not go to the station because they exceed their expectations. Therefore, they are trying to implement a mechanism that will prevent such practices from recurring in the future.
Source: Informacion
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.