Tania Lillemo was a healthy and very intelligent Norwegian girl, who spoke up to five languages. But she had to enter an operating room when she was 18 years old for an operation related to an arthritis problem. During the intervention there were problems with the anesthesia and everything became complicated to the point of causing brain damage, loss of speech and physical disability. Now she lives on a wheelchair.
Her illness brought her to Lanzarote, specifically to Puerto del Carmen, where she resides with her mother, Laila Nurdang, who has other children in Norway. The two of them live here because the climate of the Island is very beneficial for Tania.
She needs the steam of the air and humidity to alleviate the pneumonia she also suffers from. They have to go three times a week to Casa Heidi, a Norwegian clinic in Puerto del Carmen, for Tania to perform her rehabilitation exercises. But since last September 19 she has not been able to go to the health center due to lack of taxis enabled to serve people with disabilities.
Two adapted taxis for Puerto del Carmen
Indeed, the president of the Radiotaxis Association, Manuel de León, confirmed that in Puerto del Carmen there are currently only two licenses that offer this service, number 98 and number 99. This association provides service to the municipalities of Yaiza, Tías, Teguise, Tinajo and Haría, and to serve the population of all those places it only has five vehicles for the disabled. Until a week ago, the taxi with license 98 was not available due to problems with the radio frequency. After repeated complaints from Laila, they solved the problem a week ago.
But the taxi driver with license 99 had an accident and is currently damaged, waiting to return to operation, presumably, next Monday. In fact, there has been a time when it has coincided that none of the two vehicles was available. Manuel de León assured that when they do not have enabled cars in Puerto del Carmen, they call those of another municipality, but he also admits that sometimes they have not been able to send any. In those cases they are forced to send a normal car although with more capacity, such as a ranch wagon.
Response from the City Council
Precisely, Laila went to the City Council of Tías asking for help and was able to speak with the councilor delegate of Tourism, José Antonio Pérez. She denounced that on the beaches of Puerto del Carmen there are no ramps necessary for wheelchairs to access near the sea. In this regard, the councilor pledged to find a solution within fifteen days. Laila also spoke with the mayor of the municipality, José Juan Cruz Saavedra, she expressed her complaints about the lack of taxis, but she believes that they do not take her seriously. The editorial staff of this newspaper contacted the mayor and he stated that the only complaint that has reached his ears in this regard is that of Laila. However, he pledged to study the case to know in depth the situation.
The mayor explained that to give more licenses, both for adapted vehicles and for normal vehicles, the City Council has to carry out a study based on the demand, and from there the extension is proposed or not. What does seem clear is that currently the Island is not prepared to welcome people with mobility problems. Citizens who are in wheelchairs find many difficulties to move through public roads, buildings and other urban spaces.
