The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and of the island Water Consortium, Oswaldo Betancort (Coalición Canaria), assured this Tuesday, after taking over the service and breaking the contract with Canal Gestión, that "the challenge is not to have to suffer continuous cuts since we have taken over this integral water cycle completely broken".
Since nine in the morning, the Consortium's delegation and the managers of Canal Gestión have been "trying to sign the act of taking possession of the reversion of the service", for which the island president has thanked "the predisposition" of the Madrid-based company to collaborate in the transfer.
According to the island president, he has ordered the suspension of the tenders that Canal Gestión Lanzarote published after the cessation of negotiations and the kidnapping of the service were announced. In total, four contracts for more than 35.7 million euros. The most substantial one is for the electricity supply of its facilities.
Betancort assured that he will audit these tenders and those that are necessary for the continuity of the service will be maintained.
The president told reporters that he wanted to send the first message to the Canal Gestión staff, "now of the Consortium", which is absorbing the human resources of the outgoing company.
"No job is at risk here, quite the opposite, the objective is to recover that 30% of labor absenteeism that the integral water cycle currently has," he stressed.
Cejas, in charge of the service
The counselor Domingo Cejas will be in charge of the integral water cycle, and will have a "multidisciplinary team" that will be incorporated soon.
"We have a magnificent team in distribution, in contracting, in maintenance, and my mission is to attend to all the demands that will be presented," Betancort added.
"We assume with responsibility, motivation, and enthusiasm a problem that Lanzarote has been suffering for many years," he said, before apologizing "because we have spent two and a half years trying to find a solution to this problem, and the solution has been the termination of a contract and the absorption of the integral water cycle by the public administration."
He pointed out that they will focus investment on tackling water losses in the network, on service efficiency, and on guaranteeing desalination, something that cannot be achieved "overnight."
"I am not here to create enemies, but to assume a responsibility and provide a solution to a crucial problem on the island," the president has defended, who has assured that he has had no contact or conversation with either the president of Canal de Isabel II or any public official from the Community of Madrid.
"Given the serious breaches by Canal itself and the impossibility of assigning the contract, the only option left was termination," Betancort replied, who warned that the expiry of the file was at risk and that the report from the Consultative Council ratifies the technical and legal reports of the Consortium itself, reinforcing the stance they have taken.
In this regard, he pointed out that it is crucial to study the incorporation of clean energies into the system.
Regarding the future, he pointed out that he is aware that a legislative term is ending, but that the cycle will be "one hundred percent public" before it concludes, after the corresponding transfer period.
On whether the decision for Canal Gestión to enter in 2013 was a mistake, he replied that they were emerging from a culpable bankruptcy proceeding "which is active" and that it was a measure applauded "by all parties."
"That initial idea that brought investment and normality to the integral water cycle has been seen not to have been fulfilled afterwards and, therefore, the Administration must react and try to find solutions," Betancort concluded.
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