The mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, has accused the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, of "taking credit" for a dependency care service that "has never been offered by the island executive".
These statements come in response to the announcement by the Cabildo that the Comprehensive Care Service for Dependents of the Island of Lanzarote (SAIDIL) has been recognized by the Chair in Innovation in Social Services and Dependency of the UNED with the 'Good Practices in Home Care 2022' award, in recognition of its comprehensive intervention project with the group of dependent people on the island.
Betancort has indicated that "we would all applaud this news if it effectively honored a project that exists and that truly integrates all public administrations (Government of the Canary Islands, Cabildo, and city councils) and recognized the work and effort made to improve care for dependent people in our community," the leader stated, quoting the words of the Minister of Social Rights, Equality, Diversity, and Youth of the Government of the Canary Islands, Noemí Santana.
"Perhaps Noemí Santana is unaware of the island's reality, but María Dolores Corujo knows well that neither in Lanzarote nor in La Graciosa does the Cabildo have such a service, which is why it is absurd for the president to try to claim merits at the expense of the staff who assist dependent people in Lanzarote and La Graciosa when not even all the city councils are attached to an island consortium," the mayor stated.
He also expressed that "the highest island leader should know the situation of all dependent people and how they are being cared for today."
"Teguise will not participate in this false recognition"
Betancort has also stated that all municipal areas in charge of providing the home care service have been "very surprised" by the awarding of this prize: "I don't know if it's selling the bear's skin before catching it, or wanting to generate controversy at such a delicate moment, but we don't understand that if a Home Help and Promotion of Island Autonomy Service has not been launched, an award is collected for work that has never been offered".
That is why the highest leader of Teguise has indicated that his municipality "will not participate in this false recognition, no matter how much those who really give their all in home care deserve it."
In that sense, he concluded by emphasizing the importance of the work of these companies and municipal staff "who have been dedicated for years to attending to this reality with the resources offered by the local institutions of the island".
