"I have made a decision, which I believe is both courageous and responsible, to close the Géneros de Punto Cultural Center to the public until the necessary certifications are obtained and the repairs to the building's fire suppression generator are completed." This was stated by the mayor of Cieza, Tomás Rubio, in a press conference in which he was accompanied by the Councilor for Culture, María Turpín.
In his statement, he asserted that this governing team "is conducting an audit of the various municipal centers to assess their status, and we have been informed by municipal technicians that this facility had licensing and construction certification issues. After requesting the technical reports this morning, both the technical architect overseeing the project, the municipal industrial engineer, and the industrial engineers from Flexo Estudio, advised me to close it because the generator powering the center's emergency fire suppression system is not functioning."
Technical deficiencies
According to Rubio, the conclusions of the municipal technicians are as follows: "The municipal architect indicates that the deficiencies observed in the aforementioned system should be rectified, advising the closure of the facilities covered by the project in order to ensure the safety of users. For his part, the industrial technical engineer goes even further, stating that the aforementioned facilities should not have been put into operation because they lacked the necessary certifications to open to the public."
In this regard, the mayor stated that "we don't know who made the decision to open the cultural center without these mandatory reports, which are necessary for safety." Therefore, the City Council will open an internal investigation to find out who made that decision, based on what criteria, and under whose signature, if indeed there was one, a technician stating that everything was in order. Thankfully, nothing happened, but if something had, we would have regretted it, and we're not here for that."
Transfer of activities
In the mayor's words, "It's a difficult decision because we are aware of the events scheduled at the Aurelio Guirao Auditorium and the services provided at the cultural center, but I can't turn a blind eye. We know what happened in a well-known nightclub area of Murcia, and this mayor isn't going to stand idly by. Given the recommendations of the technical experts, this is the only option. This administration will not do anything illegal. Our intention is to continue reviewing all municipal buildings and, to the extent that we find any safety issues, try to rectify them."
The Councillor for Culture has announced the City Council's intention to relocate the activities offered at the Géneros de Punto Cultural Centre. "We are going to resolve this problem as soon as possible so that the building can reopen in full compliance with all legal requirements."
Source: Cieza City Council.
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