Alex Trelinski
THE Murcia government will spend nearly €8.5 million between April and September to remove biomass and ova from the Mar Menor lagoon.
Visiting Playa Honda at Los Urrutias on Wednesday to check out beach clearance work, Murcia’s Environment Minister, Juan Maria Vazquez, said that 2,054 tons of remains formed by excess nutrients in the lagoon had been removed so far this year.
“The government is clear about the recovery of our ecosystem and we are going to invest much more money for this work,” the minister pledged.
He confirmed that €1.6 million had been spent so far in 2023 and a contract has been advertised for increased work between April and September when lagoon waters warm up leading to increased problems.
There are currently 40 people assigned to cleaning duties but that will rise to 140 workers in the new contract running over the spring and summer months.
“I’ve come to Playa Honda to see close up the progress that is being made and the difficulties in carrying out the work, since everything has to be done manually,” said Maria Vazquez.
“The teams are distributed daily to cover those areas of the Mar Menor coastline where the removal of biomass is most needed,” he concluded.
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