The mayor of Arrecife, María Isabel Déniz, has just announced (2:55 p.m. this Thursday) that the City Council will soon tender the works for the channeling of rainwater.
According to Déniz, either in the next session of the Council of Ministers to be held next Monday, or in the following one, it is expected that the contracting of the works will be authorized, which, financed with 17 million euros between the Government of the Canary Islands and the State, will allow the start of the works to solve a historical problem that has been causing continuous floods in the capital of Lanzarote for years. Once such an agreement is approved, "the works will be tendered within 15 to 20 days," the mayor announced.
"The responsibility of the City Council was to get the funds and we have done it," said the mayor, who was understanding of the complaints of residents, businessmen and merchants of Arrecife, who "have suffered many inconveniences and have every right to [demonstrate->http://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/article.php3?id_article=4740&var_recherche=pluviales]".
According to Déniz, the capital's City Council began the relevant procedures more than a year ago, when it contacted the head of service of the General Directorate of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Juan Carlos Ibraín.
The Councilor for Public Works of Arrecife, Luis Morales, recently stated in statements to [lavozdelanzarote.com->http://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/article.php3?id_article=4758&var_recherche=pluviales] that in the event that the Council of Ministers gave the green light, as it seems it will, the City Council could award the works within about six months.
Among the actions that the contracting of these works will entail for Arrecife, the transfer of the treatment plant on Calle Portugal will finally be carried out, along with the channeling of water from outside the municipality. "The water will be taken from the outskirts of the municipality to the ends, taking the natural ravines for this," said the mayor.
The project itself
For his part, the general director of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Lanzarote native Orlando Umpiérrez, stated that the project that Arrecife has contemplates the expansion of its sanitation network and the separation of the rainwater network.
"As in Puerto del Carmen and Playa Honda, the Arrecife project will be undertaken as soon as the signing of the agreement is effective," by which the State and the Government of the Canary Islands will contribute about 17 million euros.
According to Umpiérrez, for whom the shortcomings of the sanitation infrastructures that Arrecife and Lanzarote suffer from have always been something traditional, in his day many natural ravines were blocked and construction was allowed on them. "Ravines were blocked and no outlet was given to the water," he commented. "Now it would be necessary to do large works that include much more drainage," he added.
The recent rains that have fallen on the Island have caused countless problems in the streets of Arrecife, revealing multiple deficiencies in the roads of the island's capital.
