This Monday, the Local Government Commission of the Pamplona City Council gave the green light for the preparation of a census of public and private buildings with the presence of asbestos which they plan to complete by mid-2025, starting with the safe disposal of this material.
To prepare this census, the City Hall will call on technical assistance with a budget of 30,000 euros, which will be the subject of a call for tenders at the end of the year. Once the work has been awarded, it must be carried out in a period of three monthsas explained in a press conference by the advisor for strategic government, urban planning, housing and Agenda 2030, Joxe Abaurrea.
The census, explained the City Hall, will make it possible to identify and assess the state of the Visible and easily detectable asbestos on facades, roofs and chimneysbut a detailed report will also be prepared for each of the buildings or facilities that may be inspected. Based on all this data, the removal will be prioritized according to the degree of danger and exposure of the most vulnerable population.
Despite the delays in the presentation of this census, which should have been ready in 2023, Abaurrea indicated that he would maintain the horizon of action set by the European Union so that in 2032 this element will disappear from all buildings. Furthermore, he mentioned, in the public buildings They hope that by 2028 the goal will be achieved.
One of the first interventions due to its danger, he indicated, will be carried out in the Oscus building, located in the block generated by the Navarreria, Carmen and Redín streets and whose demolition has been planned for several decades. It is, he stressed, a building which “contains a fairly high level of asbestos” and a significant level of degradation after years of disuse.
His intention, he explained, is to recover a room on the upper floor of the building where the soup kitchen used to be and the entire intervention will take place around 200,000 euros with the hope that work can begin at the end of 2025.
The other intervention highlighted by the advisor is located in the Aceros Sadar warehouse, a private space belonging to the Supramunicipal Incidence Sector Plan (PSIS) of the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) which has already suffered several fires and where there are people spending the night.
As noted, they have also been trying to resolve the situation here for over a decade, but they hope that working with Government of Navarre and the UPNA could bear fruit for a modification of the PSIS and thus be able to begin the work estimated at around 400,000 euros.
Abaurrea acknowledged that it would be a “long and complicated” job, especially in private buildings, which is why they are considering allowing, in collaboration with the Government of Navarre a grant fund to encourage interest.
In municipal actions in which the removal of these materials does not involve major works, the management will be carried out by Urban Conservation, while when an execution project is required or the actions involve larger volumes, the initiative will be taken by the area of Strategic projects.
For withdrawal from private buildings, the area of Strategic government, urban planning, housing and Agenda 2030 the person responsible for informing and demanding actions based on the census.
