The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has expressed his profound "disappointment and discomfort" at the "non-compliance" by the Government of Spain with the announced and promised reinforcement of National Police officers in Lanzarote, describing the situation as "a new institutional contempt that threatens citizen security and respect for this island."
Despite the fact that the Ministry of the Interior had expanded the catalog of jobs in January of this year by 47 positions for basic scale agents, three sub-inspectors, and one officer, only eleven positions were filled. Thus, the island director of the Government of Spain in Lanzarote, Pedro Viera, announced that these vacancies will be offered again in July and August for newly appointed officials.
However, Betancort has stated that "in the official transfer competition, the total number of agents has only increased by two, between those arriving and those leaving for other destinations, and subsequently only 11 vacancies have been offered for newly appointed police officers, out of the 45 existing vacancies." Betancort has described this figure as "ridiculous and offensive," and has assured that it is "far from the real need and what was promised to the citizens."
Oswaldo Betancort, also a nationalist deputy in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, has stated that he took the promises of the island director of the General State Administration of Lanzarote, Pedro Viera, and therefore of the Ministry of the Interior, as certain last Wednesday in parliamentary headquarters, "only to find out the next day that we had been deceived in a very bad way," he clarifies.
"We have been deceived without any respect for the citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa. The central government makes great announcements again, but has failed again in the essentials: keeping its word and guaranteeing the security of the non-peninsular territories," denounces the island president.
The president of the Cabildo also regrets that "the island reality and the demographic increase of Lanzarote have been completely ignored," which has gone from just over 96,000 inhabitants in the year 2000 to currently exceeding 163,000. "In 25 years, the National Police force has not been increased, despite the continuous warnings and complaints from both the Parliament of the Canary Islands and the police unions," he recalls.
Betancort has also pointed out "the contradiction between the treatment given to Lanzarote compared to other islands." "While in Tenerife South all the planned positions have been offered, the same has not been done at the César Manrique-Lanzarote airport. Why this discrimination from the State?" he continued.
To this situation, he has added "the overload suffered by the agents of the Arrecife Police Station, who must divide their work between ordinary service and attention at the Temporary Foreigners Assistance Center (CATE)." "When there are massive arrivals, the CATE becomes a priority and the police station is left unattended, causing emergency calls to 091 and 112 not to be answered," Betancort warned.
The island president has demanded that the Ministry of the Interior "immediately convene all the vacancies in the Canary Islands, without further excuses or delays," and has reiterated that the security of Lanzarote "cannot continue to be a political bargaining chip or a victim of institutional neglect. Security is not a privilege, it is a right," he concludes.
