Images: Sergio Betancort
The president of the Argana Alta Neighborhood Association, Andrés de la Cruz, and the spokesperson for those affected by the floods from the same association, Leopoldo Martín, have presented 1,756 signatures both in the Arrecife City Council and in the Cabildo, to demand that the residents of this neighborhood be compensated "for the serious problems caused" by the heavy rains that fell on the island last January. The document has also been sent to the Government of the Canary Islands.
In their writing, the residents of this Arrecife neighborhood complain about "the lack of a real and effective response from public administrations." "All we want is to be compensated for the damages caused to homes, belongings, and businesses," they state.
According to the president of the Argana Alta Neighborhood Association, Andrés de la Cruz, they have not received "any" help. "The only help we received, through the Government of the Canary Islands, was that a resident was transferred to a home in San Bartolomé on the day of the rains," De la Cruz specified.
The residents also request that "prompt solutions be offered through solid projects and rapid investments, which guarantee that these events do not happen again."
New stormwater project
In this sense, the residents of Argana Alta have requested a modification of the Arrecife stormwater evacuation project since, in their opinion, "it is not well done."
In fact, this Thursday they held a meeting with the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, the manager of the Island Water Consortium, Antonio Cárdenas, and the general director of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands. "We have presented a plan with the improvements that would have to be made, because there are many deficiencies. They have put collectors in some places in the neighborhood, which leave the door open to the center, so that the water comes down from the mountain to the main streets and these are flooded, because these streets are lower and they did not put collectors in these areas," De la Cruz explained.
For his part, the general director of Water, Mariano de León, has indicated that the Government of the Canary Islands is already preparing a new complementary project in which, according to what he has stated, these modifications would be included. "I hope it will be finished before the end of March," De León pointed out.
The problem lies in the fact that, for the moment, "there is no money for its execution," according to De León himself. In this sense, although the residents have requested a meeting with Paulino so that there is a budget for the execution of the work, De León has specified that "it is a municipal competence" and that, therefore, it would be the City Council that should face this expense. "If the Government of the Canary Islands helps, that is another matter. First we are going to evaluate the cost and then we are going to see where we get the money from, but the City Council has to assume its responsibility as well."
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[CC requests that the assessments of the damages caused by the rains in Arrecife be carried out->50399]
