Neighbors of La Graciosa presented on July 3 a total of 216 signatures before the municipal office of the Teguise City Council in La Graciosa to inquire about the situation of the sanitation plan for the island. However, they have not received a response from the institutions.
"We have reiterated another presentation of signatures because neither the Teguise City Council, the Cabildo of Lanzarote, nor the Government of the Canary Islands" have responded to their writing, have not convened a meeting and "have not received any explanation", according to citizens in an audio sent to La Voz.
The construction of the sewerage network began in 2016 and was stopped in 2018 because the Court of Accounts did not consider the emergency with which it had been processed justified.
After years of waiting, a few weeks ago the Government of the Canary Islands declared this work as being of regional interest and is currently awaiting the necessary sectoral reports to carry out the project.
The residents of the eighth island point out that "amid so much bureaucracy, the current situation of the affected residents is still that their wells fill up frequently and they are the ones who have to bear the costs of emptying them. It must also be remembered that, even though it is a natural park, the filling of these wells continues to produce an environmental impact due to its spills into the environment".
On the eighth island, the fecal water management system used is the traditional black wells, which filter waste into the subsoil and end up in the sea. These wells "become saturated" and "have to be emptied". On other occasions, when the wells become saturated, residents must pay a company to "transfer" the wastewater to Lanzarote. In addition, they add that "we are not sure that sanitary regulations are being followed to transfer that waste to Lanzarote. It is a fairly serious problem, since in summer the island is also saturated with people and we are very worried".
What is requested by these residents, as long as the work is not carried out, is that the administrations take charge of cleaning the wells, since it is their responsibility that the island of La Graciosa has an adequate sanitation service.
