Ondara’s last big step towards public management of its drinking water.
The local government will be presenting a motion to the plenary session for the municipal company, Sinma, to take over the management of water and sanitation services from 31 August. At this meeting, the new councillor of the Compromís municipal group, Verònica Crespo, will take office, replacing Jordi Dominguis.
There have been few municipalisations of privately managed services in the region in recent times. Ondara Town Council is about to complete one. This Thursday’s plenary session will decide whether to approve the transfer of its drinking water and wastewater management to the municipal company Servicios Integrales de Limpieza y Medio Ambiente de Ondara S.L.U. (SINMA).
This is the last step in a process that began on 26 September 2024, when another plenary session unanimously approved (both the PSPV, as the governing party, and Compromís and the PP, from the opposition) the provision and direct management by the Council of these services of supply and domestic water and sewerage from 31 August 2025.
Now, in this Thursday’s plenary session, it will be decided that the public company will be the contracting authority for the people necessary to provide the service and will subrogate a full-time plumber from the private company Aguas de Valencia, which until now has managed the supply and which is now concluding its contract. SINMA’s management contract will be for an indefinite period after the current concession expires. The tariffs will be those approved by the City Council, without the profit margin of a private company.
Increasing the percentage of water reaching households
The mayor, socialist José Ramiro, said that “water should be managed by the public sector because it is a basic service and the wells that supply Ondara are municipal”. By returning the service to the municipality, it is hoped to improve the performance of the network, i.e. to increase the percentage of water from the wells that finally reaches the homes. He also hopes to reinvest in repairing leaks and better planning.
Explaining the reasons for entrusting SINMA with the management of the network, Ramiro pointed out that this public company “is efficient and has been managing various municipal services for years, so it can share resources and personnel with water management”. In fact, SINMA already manages the municipal swimming pool and the municipal works brigade.
At the same plenary session, the new Compromís councillor, Verònica Crespo Sendra, will take up her post, replacing Jordi Dominguis, who is resigning for personal reasons at the end of December 2024. The Valencianist municipal group will thus be made up of Lluís Fornés, Àngels Grimalt and Verònica Crespo.
