Antich headache

By Jason Moore I am starting to feel quite sorry for Balearic leader Francesc Antich; the two star projects of the previous administration, the new NHS hospital and the metro are causing plenty of headaches. The new hospital, which was going to be built at Son Espases on the outskirts of Palma has already split Antich's coalition. In opposition all the parties opposed the site but now in government Antich finds that he may have little option but to build it at Son Espases because construction work has already started and if the project was cancelled then there would be important penalty payments. Secondly the metro is proving to be a real nightmare. Everytime it rains it floods. It was closed over the weekend because of the heavy rainfall. The 150 million euro project obviously has some sincere faults. Antich has ordered that the metro be closed down and a thorough investigation launched to discover all its faults. The repair bill is expected to be enormous leaving Antich two choices; either forget it completely or order a costly rebuild. The hospital and the metro will be key issues in the coming months and Antich should be prepared for some major headaches. It will be interesting to see what his final decisions will be.