The Formentera Council's department of youth services, under the aegis of a contest commemorating the recent International Day of the Child, has handed out eight awards to different island school children for their contributions. Dubbed Reinventem el futur ('we're reinventing the future'), the contest was a chance for kids to participate by drawing, and that's what happened. «Prizes — in the form of 50€-vouchers for school supplies or sports gear — were awarded to two pupils of early-learning programmes and four pupils of primary schools», explained local councillor of social welfare Vanessa Parellada.

Setting the bar high

Contest judges pointed to difficulty picking winners as the motive behind the last-minute decision to give out two runner-up prizes — one for early-learning one for primary, vouchers of 25€. The Council organised the contest for the first time this year and according to Councillor Parellada: «Participants really set the bar high». «Besides promoting drawing among school children», said Parellada, «the goal here was to raise children's awareness about their rights».

Prizes

Prizes will be handed out this Saturday 21 November at 1:30 in the Antoni Blanc sports centre, dovetailing with an open-house and activities day also scheduled to celebrate the Day of the Child. The winners in the early-learning category are Razvan Borlescu and Lucia Alberto Benítez and, in primary, Marwa Halhoul, David Ferrer Yern, Nestor Martin Roig and Juan Carlos Cruz Tur. The second place winner in early-learning is Leonardo Metastasio Escandell. All the drawings will be on display at the sports centre. Councillor Parellada urged everyone on the island to stop by and have a look.

Formentera Council president Jaume Ferrer has received a visit from Patricia Gómez, the regional secretary of health, at the CiF's head office in Sant Francesc. Also present at the meeting were CiF councillor of social welfare Vanessa Parellada; Formentera's parliamentarian Sílvia Tur; chief of health services in Eivissa and Formentera Josep Balanzat; and vice director of primary care at Ib-Salut Rosa Duro.

The CiF president levied Ms Gómez for «a dedicated space for Formentera residents at the future health centre and former Can Misses hospital». The idea is to create a place where family members can sleep, shower or change while loved ones are receiving care. «Hospital stays can be longer than anticipated», commented the president. Ferrer took advantage of the opportunity to update his counterpart on the imminent implementation of a GPS-based system for rapidly locating individuals in remote swaths of Formentera who require medical attention.

Ferrer expressed his appreciation for what was Gómez's first official visit to Formentera as health secretary for the Govern. Gómez spoke to the CiF representatives about the improvements planned for the hospital here on Formentera: summer reinforcements for the emergency room and assistance in the form of visiting experts in specialties like neurology, urology and mental health.

Earlier today, the president and cabinet councillor of the Formentera Council, Jaume Ferrer and Bartomeu Escandell, met with four representatives of the Palma administration on an official visit to the island. Ferrer and Escandell joined Francina Armengol, Govern president; Joan Boned, regional secretary of land; Maria Antònia Garcías, director of the regional institute of public housing (IBAVI) and Carles Gabriel, an architect at IBAVI, on a visit to the building site in Sant Ferran where low-cost housing is currently under construction.

The Govern president lauded all the work which has gone into the project, as well as the contribution of the Formentera Council, which ceded part of the terrain where construction is taking place. Armengol called the housing units «particularly special given their environmental sustainability».

A mix of modernity and tradition

For the Formentera Council president, the project’s strength lies in the balance of modernity and tradition that it strikes. «Both the exterior walls of the building and those of the individual units are insulated using posidònia sea grass», pointed out Ferrer, «a feature that brings about savings of both money and energy». The CiF president expressed his hope that henceforth all public buildings include such green thinking.

The president is anxious to see the island become «a pioneer in green housing», commenting: «Such projects reflect the same image Formentera tries to embody». He expressed his «eagerness for families to move into the 14 apartments», something the administration anticipates for early 2017.

Regional land secretary Boned indicated construction will be complete by year-end 2016 but said the wait list has not yet been opened. He concluded by reminding the audience of the goal of the project: «Decent homes for those whom current market prices leave out».

The Formentera Council has unveiled its contribution to an initiative called 'Islas Inteligentes' (smart islands) launched by the state-run Red.es website, an outgrowth of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. Formentera's proposal, entitled «Formentera, the smallest but the smartest», is founded on the principle of using next generation technology to preserve our surroundings and improve public services.

The head of the new technologies department, Rafael González, said the 'Islas Inteligentes' call for applications had been an opportunity to breathe life into projects «that we'd worked on but never made public due to budgetary restrictions».

According to Councillor González, «if the Ministry wanted to use the proposed projects it would be a giant step forward. It would be an opportunity to implement initiatives that were imagined for some point in the future». He continued, «we're realistic though. We tailored the bid competitively, but know we're up against some steep competition».

Among the many measures proposed in the bid, there is the idea of installing scales in rubbish bins that would warn collection vans in those cases a bin is only partially full, hence saving vans a pointless journey. Another proposes advising travellers of the time before a bus arrives. A third suggests dimming pavement street lamps when no pedestrians are detected. Still another proposes allowing residents to carry out municipal formalities on the Internet.

The Council estimates the initiatives would require a budget, tax included, of 1,932,642 euros. 'Islas Inteligentes' set the maximum budget at 10 million euros per project. Councillor González explained Formentera's decision to keep the figure low «came from our desire to make something both financially-solvent and realistic». He continued: «More than a letter to Father Christmas, we wanted to draft proposals of projects we knew we could implement and maintain. Projects in keeping with what we try to promote here on the island: respect for the natural surroundings and tranquility».