19 million euros spent on ports

Joan Collins THE investment made by the Balearic Government's Ports Department in the ports under its supervision will be 19 million euros. The most extensive port refurbishment works are being carried out in the Port of Soller, Portocolom and Cala Bona. Work started during the Winter in numerous ports and some of it has been finished for the start of the high season. Monica Pozuelo, the new director general of the Ports department, explained the work going on in each of the ports controlled by the Government. In the Port of Soller one of the most important changes is taking place since the national Ministry of Defence ceded their installations to the Balearic Government. At the moment work is going on to extend the harbour which will allow 100 moorings to be added to the 465 existing ones. The budget for this work is 7.9 million euros, of which 300'000 euros is for the demolition of the old Naval building, according to Pozuelo. In Portocolom there is also major work going on. The port was dredged a few months ago to guarantee enough depth of water for the boats. Also, a few irregular structures are being demolished to organise the moorings before Summer. “The port management will directly manage the moorings and we will see how it goes”, she said. The cost of this work has risen to 2.6 million euros because of the archeologists, who found several things worth preserving. In Cala Bona the investment will be 3 million euros. Here work is being carried out on the walkways and the highest part of the port. She highlighted the conversion of a 10 metre pier for the installation of fuel pumps. The work will be finished by the end of the year. In Colonia de Sant Jordi there has been a refurbishment of the port area and a stretch of the Gabriel Roca promenade has been improved. The Ports department has decided to restrict traffic passing through the port and along the seafront, and to build a car park. In the port a broken jetty has been replaced and also the dry dock ramp. Also included in the project was the refurbishment of the tourist information office. The work cost 2 million euros. In the Port of Pollensa, said Pozuelo, there are two sets of work going on. One consists of the repair of the Moll Vell, where a new pavement is being laid. This work will be finished soon. The other work is the remodelling of the loading and unloading area. The dock is being put in order and a pier is being elongated and the work will last until 2007, she said.