The Franz Weber Foundation denounces that more than 500 days after the request for information made by the Franz Weber Foundation to the Yaiza City Council in relation to the video where the inadequate treatment of a baby camel was contemplated, there is still no official response.
This is the warning made by the naturalists after "the reprimand of the Canary Islands Transparency Commissioner and the absolute lack of responses from this local Government: it has not answered any of the questions raised".
In June 2023, and after the dissemination of a video on social networks where "an alleged worker treated a baby camel completely inappropriately", the council announced the opening of a sanctioning file.
"On the way to the second year of waiting, there is no knowledge of it and that is why the Franz Weber Foundation first requested this information from the City Council and after not obtaining a response, it appealed to the Deputy of the Common", they denounce from the foundation.
Thus, the Ombudsman of the Canary Islands considered that the matter should be processed through the Transparency Commissioner. On January 31, 2024, he sent a first request to Yaiza, with a deadline for data delivery of fifteen business days and on April 11, a new requirement.
The Commissioner already warned at the time with possible administrative sanctions, and required the municipal Government "to indicate the competent body for the resolution of requests for access to public information and the person responsible for the competent unit of this public information".
With these antecedents, the international NGO considers that "Yaiza has knowingly disobeyed the regulatory framework of the transparency regulations and the Commissioner's own warnings, so its action should be declared as 'obstructionist' and the mandatory sanctioning file should be initiated".
Canarian regulations contemplate fines of up to €300,000 for infractions and the possibility of removing senior officials.
"The viral video generated an important social rejection, where tens of thousands of people showed their outrage on social networks creating a bad image of Lanzarote", they say from the foundation. "In September of this same year, other images went around the world, affecting this negative image of the Island", they continue.
"From FFW, a reconversion of the sector was proposed with the support of public administrations, a measure that had already been launched in 2021 after the publication of a strong veterinary report on the living and 'working' conditions of these animals on the Island and within a National Park, they conclude.
