A convoy of the Local Police of Martorell, made up of two corporals and four volunteer officers, continues in Valencian territory offering its help to the populations most affected by DANA (Isolated Depression in High Levels). They left on Tuesday morning, loaded with material for cleaning and rescue, and will be there until Sunday doing traffic regulation, security patrolling and mediation tasks.
The DANA that has intensely affected Valencia requires a large deployment of human and material resources to deal with the serious floods and emergencies generated by the heavy rains. Faced with the magnitude of the situation, six officers from the Local Police of Martorell wanted to give a selfless helping hand by putting themselves at the service of the local Valencian teams to speed up the response in the most punished areas.
The officers from Martorell go every morning to the PMA (Puesto de Mando Avanzado), where a group of police officers from the area assigns them to one municipality or another, depending on the needs. Thus, on the first day they went to Paiporta, the epicenter of the tragedy, where they mainly dedicated themselves to “regulating traffic to facilitate the passage of heavy machinery, so that they can remove the debris from the main roads and restore circulation”, he explains Mohamed Bouachmir, local police officer of Martorell.
As we were in the area close to the health center, they also helped the health workers who needed a vehicle to travel to an emergency. “One of these emergencies was a cardiac arrest of a 98-year-old man who, thanks to us being able to move the paramedics quickly, was able to recover.”
Mohamed Bouachmir, agent de proximitat de la Policia Local de Martorell
In Paiporta, Bouachmir comments that they also did public security tasks. “Some people who didn’t seem to be cooperating too much, we identified them, together with other police officers in the area, and it turned out that they were engaged in stealing.” In addition, they did mediation tasks because, according to the agent, “here people are very nervous, the atmosphere is tense and sometimes we have to mediate between the neighborhood, or between neighbors and drivers”.
Mohamed Bouachmir, agent de proximitat de la Policia Local de Martorell
On the second day they went to Albal and Catarroja, where they have been for three days. In this town they are also “regulating traffic and cutting off streets because there are many volunteers here who come with the intention of helping, but they unwittingly hinder the work of the machines and cannot move forward”. “The first day we arrived, the machinists were grateful for our work because in one hour we had been able to advance more work than in the entire previous day.”
This Friday “many police colleagues from other communities have arrived in Catarroja and we will certainly go to the soup kitchens to check that there is no conflict with people who might try to take advantage of the situation”.
Mohamed Bouachmir, agent de proximitat de la Policia Local de Martorell
During these days they have also distributed basic material brought from Martorell for cleaning and rescue such as hydroalcoholic gel, masks, shovels, brushes, buckets and drinking water. The agent assures, however, that the population “has the basic needs of food and hygiene more than covered, thanks to the solidarity and resources of the administration”.
“The most important thing now is to let the machines work. That all the debris on the public road can be removed to restore the circulation of vehicles and supplies. Until this happens, no progress can be made. Everyone who wants to help will have their time, but it’s not now. The machines have to do work and the more people there are on the street, the more difficult and dangerous it becomes for them to do their job.”
Mohamed Bouachmir, agent de proximitat de la Policia Local de Martorell
Bouachmir says that the residents of the municipalities where they went are very grateful to them. “There are people who have lost everything, but are grateful to be alive. Little by little, normality will be restored, but it is complicated and there is a lot of work to be done for months. You have to have a lot of patience and trust that, little by little, the authorities will put in place the necessary means for all of this to go ahead.”
Mohamed Bouachmir, agent de proximitat de la Policia Local de Martorell
The Generalitat Valenciana and the various towns have reported that what they need most now are financial contributions and also volunteers to help clean and lend a helping hand wherever needed.
Source: martorelldigital.cat
