"A special effort has been made so that there is investment in this port, which needs it very much." This is how the Minister of Public Works, Ana Pastor, spoke about the investment that the State will make in the Los Mármoles dock, where "fundamental works" will begin so that there is "shelter for cruise ships". The minister has assured that she will "follow very closely" the works so that "the deadlines are met". The objective is "to have a decent port" for this island.
And the minister has assured that the growth of cruises in Lanzarote is being "exponential". "We plan to close the year with more than 360,000 cruise passengers, a very important figure, which we understand will grow much more in the coming years." For this reason, the minister has pointed out that it is necessary "to make that dike, that extension, so that there is more shelter and all the cruises can dock".
Ana Pastor has assured that the investment, included in the 2013-2017 investment plan with a budget of 17.5 million euros, "is mostly provided by the General State Administration". "From the first euro to the last, to which must be added what may be from community funds. I am permanently fighting for these funds," she indicated.
Given the importance of this work, the minister has insisted that she will "set homework" so that the money that has been budgeted for 2014 is invested. "I will come and review the homework with them to see if they have complied", she indicated. For the moment, there is no start date for the works, although Ana Pastor has assured that they will begin "as soon as possible".
Thus, she recalled that "the law must be complied with", because the works still have to be "tendered and awarded". "It will not be for money, because it is in the budget," she defended.
Investment in ports rises "more than 100 percent"
The minister has assured that investment in the ports of the Canary Islands grows in the general state budgets for 2014 by "more than 100 percent". "They are 117 million euros, which means more than double that in 2013", she highlighted.
Ana Pastor has defended the investment that Fomento will make in the Canary Islands, "with almost 300 million for transport subsidies, with one hundred and something million for ports, one hundred and something million for airports, fifty-something for roads and almost 20 million for housing policies". "The budget of the Ministry of Public Works has grown for the Canary Islands by more than 11 percent. I am about accounts and not stories. Surely it is little, but it is what it is in a moment like this. There are communities that decrease and the Canary Islands increase", she insisted.
"Extraordinary effort" on roads
In addition, she had to respond to the criticisms of the Government of the Canary Islands, which assured that the central government "mistreated" it due to the cuts in the Road Plan, for which some 50 million euros have been budgeted. In this sense, she wanted to make it clear that her ministry "has powers in ports and airports", but tries to make "an extraordinary effort" with powers that are not its own, such as roads.
"In road policies I try to help with what I can, putting more than 50 million euros. It is what we can put. In the own competences the effort is very important", she defended.
The extension of the Guacimeta runway, "a technical issue"
Regarding the extension of the Guacimeta airport runway, which island businessmen have been demanding for a long time, the minister has assured that "it is not a political issue, but a technical issue". "When an airport has a certain demand, it is the technicians who recommend what the extensions are. They are not political decisions, but technical ones. What the technicians say will be done by the minister", she indicated.
Regarding ticket prices, which have skyrocketed in the last year, the minister would "like to have the capacity to regulate prices, but they are from a liberalized market". In this regard, she recalled that the State pays "half of each ticket for residents of the islands, who have their legitimate rights". "The one that is most affected, one of those that is affected in the same way, affects us who have to pay 50 percent of each ticket", she stressed.
"What there is is freedom of prices and unfortunately, our legal system is like this here and in Europe. We have lowered the fees, there are bonuses for the period of the year and for connection, we are making an important effort in bonuses", she stressed, assuring that "they are some of the lowest fees in the same environments of European airports".