"It was never said that the association was going to close and the documentation was presented to the Cabildo in due time and form." In this way, the Association for People with Disabilities in Lanzarote (Adislan) has ended two controversies. The first, with UGT, which assured that the group was "on the verge of closing" due to the delay in the Cabildo subsidy. And the second, with the Minister of Social Welfare, Marci Acuña, who indicated that the Cabildo had not paid this aid because the subsidies from previous years were "not justified".
In the first place, several representatives of Adislan, including its president, María Dolores Novás, wanted to make it clear at a press conference that the documentation was presented to the Cabildo "in due time and form." "The entity has been and is up to date in all its administrative obligations. The justification of the public money that the entity receives has been managed and justified as always with responsibility, presenting the documentation in due time and form, as stated in the corresponding concession resolution", the president indicated.
"There are files so large that they add up to a value of one million euros that require looking at all the documentation and if there is an error, correct it", said another of the representatives, María de los Ángeles Pérez López. In this sense, she insisted that "once the Cabildo required the information, it has been sent promptly and effectively." "As of today everything is justified and we have not been asked for documentation again. Furthermore, the week in which the payment was made effectively was the week it was expected to be made", she clarified.
"Yes, there have been delays in the payment of subsidies, but it is a widespread delay. It is not that it has happened this year and it is a different tone, there have always been delays both with the Cabildo, as with any city council and the Government of the Canary Islands. Subsidies never come immediately", said this representative of Adislan. With public funding for 2012 "guaranteed", Adislan still does not know what will happen with subsidies in 2013. "We don't know that. The entity will fight to reduce funding as little as possible", she stated.
The UGT statement
On the other hand, Pérez López insisted that the association has not been "on the verge of closing", as UGT assured. "Adislan neither in the medium nor in the short term intends to close its doors and I am going to venture to say that not even in the long term. If it is not in one way, it is in another, but a way will be found to provide the service", she guaranteed.
Specifically, Pérez López has indicated that she still does not understand "why UGT issued that statement", although she imagines that it is "to defend the workers." "It is true that the entity is obliged to meet with the Works Council. We did so and the general secretary of UGT, César Reyes, was at the meeting", she explained.
Among other issues, the representatives of Adislan communicated in that meeting that "the extra payment would be delayed" to the workers "because there was not enough liquidity." For the moment, the employees have not received it. According to Pérez López, in that meeting "it was not questioned or raised that they were not going to receive the payroll and neither that the entity was about to close." "That was not even mentioned. It is not the reality", she indicated.
Private funding
From Adislan they have assured that this year public funding has not fallen, which "was guaranteed", but private funding. "To start many programs we needed funding from certain social works, but due to what is happening with savings banks that funding has been diminished or completely disappeared", they have reported.
This has affected several important Adislan projects, such as the therapeutic pool for children with disabilities, the family support service or the leisure service. Both the first and the last continue to function but either with less staff and users or with variations.
Specifically, the pool for children, which is in the Adislan center in Tahíche, is only open in the morning, when before it could also be used in the afternoon. "Families used to pay 25 euros for two sessions with a physiotherapist and now they have to pay 75 euros", the Adislan managers have lamented.
"This service is essential for families and children, because it offers them quality of life. Without private funding it is an overexertion for Adislan to start this pool. We will always take into account that as soon as possible we will give more comfortable options for the family reality", they have indicated.
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[Marci Acuña affirms that 1.5 million have not been paid to Adislan because "it has not justified" the subsidies of previous years->73218]
[Adislan denies that it "is on the verge of collapse and closure"->73204]
[UGT denounces that Adislan is "on the verge of closure" due to the delay in the payment of the Cabildo subsidy->73191]