The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, and the president of the Security and Emergency Consortium of the island, Francisco J. Aparicio, held a meeting this Wednesday with the general director of Security and Emergencies of the Government of the Canary Islands, Gustavo Armas; the manager of the public company Management of Services for Health and Safety in the Canary Islands (GSC), Elías Castro, and the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, to address the shortcomings in health and safety matters on the island of La Graciosa.
In the meeting, which was also attended by the manager of the Security and Emergency Consortium of Lanzarote, Enrique Espinosa, and the councilor of La Graciosa, Alicia Páez, the "urgent need to provide the eighth island with its own means and resources to guarantee, on a permanent basis, the safety of residents and visitors in health and emergency matters" was raised.
In this sense, the president of the Cabildo appealed to the "criterion of equality among Canarians, regardless of which island they reside on, to have the same health, safety and rescue services."
"It is time," added Dolores Corujo, "for justice to be done with La Graciosa and for a response to be given to the shortcomings that its residents still suffer in this area, because the people of La Graciosa do not deserve the continuous patching that has been experienced in recent years in terms of security and emergencies."
The objective is to implement in La Graciosa "a permanent service with vehicles and professional personnel to consolidate health and rescue services and cover, with full guarantees, the needs of the local population, which although it is around 750 inhabitants, can be tripled coinciding with the summer periods".
The general director of Security and Emergencies of the Government of the Canary Islands, Gustavo Armas, assured that the regional Executive is "looking for solutions so that La Graciosa has, as soon as possible, a complete professional and permanent team on the island, which is also coordinated with the Security and Emergency Consortium of Lanzarote, the Canary Islands Health Service, the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies of the Government and Management of Services for Health and Safety in the Canary Islands".
Both the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, and the president of the Security and Emergency Consortium, Francisco J. Aparicio, stressed the importance of "La Graciosa having an integrated service equipped with emergency, health and rescue vehicles, as well as specialized personnel, to quickly and effectively address those security situations that require it."
After the meeting, the representatives of the Island Council, the Teguise City Council and the Government of the Canary Islands agreed that, in the coming weeks, they will analyze the final document to implement this service in La Graciosa, which could be a reality in 2022.
