Coalición Canaria presents its electoral program on economic matters

"The application of containment and savings plans, the elimination of superfluous expenses and the dedication of more resources to those who need it most", are some of the measures announced by those responsible for the economy of the institutions in which Coalición Canaria has had government responsibilities during the last legislature, who have offered a press conference on the morning of Friday, May 15, in which they pointed out that "CC is the only party that can guarantee the economic stability of the island, simply because we have already done so".

The Finance Councilor in the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Luis Arráez, and the councilors of the economic area, María Teresa Lorenzo, from Arrecife; Miguel Ángel Jiménez, from Teguise; Carmen González, from San Bartolomé; and Antonio López, from Tinajo, respectively; have offered a press conference in which they have reviewed the economic management of Coalición Canaria, and have warned that "it would be very sad if those who ruined the public institutions of the island, now that they are healthy and generating important investments, return to govern them to return us to the situation of economic ruin prior to 2010". In this sense, Luis Arráez recalled that "in the last three years only from the Cabildo of Lanzarote, through the municipal investment plans, 120 million euros have been allocated to finance almost 300 projects of the town councils regardless of their political color, because we govern for everyone, not for a few".

In this sense, Arráez explained that "only those who make decisions can be wrong, and surely on some occasion we have screwed up but what I can assure you is that we have never stolen and probably others cannot say the same". In this way, Arráez appealed to "the honesty and transparency that has presided over the economic management carried out by CC during the last legislature".

In his speech, Arráez has once again recalled the situation "of economic ruin" in which the public institutions find themselves, "we arrived in the midst of a serious economic crisis, without approved budgets and without paying suppliers, social groups or sports clubs and which has been turned around in a single legislature, which has allowed us to solve strategic issues of utmost importance for the people of Lanzarote such as the Integral Water Cycle without raising the price of the bill, liquidating a debt of 50 million euros that threatened the stability of the Insular Water Consortium and also guaranteeing the investment of another 54 million euros; the recovery of the CACT that are once again giving benefits; the management of waste in Zonzamas that no longer smells bad, nor burns, nor poses a problem for health, as well as achieving important achievements such as the Ring Road, which is the largest investment made in Lanzarote in decades. All this, in addition to managing for the people as demonstrated by the fact that we have dedicated 30% of the island budget to social spending and tripled social aid".

For her part, the head of Economy and Finance of the Arrecife City Council, María Teresa Lorenzo, stressed during her speech that "thanks to the good management of Coalición Canaria, we have managed to give a very important turn to the economic situation of the institution and we have reduced debt by more than 30 percent. In addition, we have achieved savings in interest of almost 3 million euros for the refinancing of loans". "All this has allowed us -pointed out the mayor- to reduce the tax burden, for example, reducing the Property Tax to a minimum, something that the residents of Arrecife are going to start to notice this year in the receipt that is already being collected".

Although Lorenzo recognizes that "there is still a lot of work to be done in the city, the economic recovery achieved by Coalición Canaria has allowed us to complete the Neighborhood Plan of Maneje, Valterra and La Vega, invest more than two million euros in the rainwater and sanitation network, so Argana is no longer flooded and the paving of more than a hundred streets". "Also, infrastructures that had been half-finished for years have been completed and put to the use of citizens: History Museum Castillo de San Gabriel, Civic Center, Children's School, Youth Center, Minors' Centers, Maneje Park and, in the near future, La Casa de la Cultura".

"Another of the spaces that has experienced a great improvement has been the Reducto beach -Lorenzo stressed- and we have revitalized the city by providing it with more cultural and leisure offerings". An important aspect for the councilor is "the number of new companies that have been installed in the city, which has favored the decrease in unemployment figures".

"We have to be proud -he said-. The fact that Arrecife has 1,473 fewer unemployed than in 2012 is an important fact, although we are confident that it will continue to decline. Also, with respect to 2012, we have created 736 more jobs and, in the last two years, more than a hundred new companies have been installed, an undeniable symptom of economic improvement".

María Teresa Lorenzo recalled that to all these positive data must be added that "it has been Coalición Canaria who has promoted the establishment of large surfaces such as Lidl and Mercadona, thus contributing to making our shopping basket the cheapest in history". She also explained that "in order for Arrecife to continue improving, Coalición Canaria proposes as fundamental lines of government: the promotion of employment, investment in public works, which will be done thanks to the approval of the General Plan, the Master Plan for Open Commercial Areas and the Comprehensive Neighborhood Plan, continue with the policies of tax reduction, promote Electronic Administration and create the Transparency Portal for an even more efficient management of public resources, and enhance the cultural, gastronomic, tourist, sports and environmental attractions of the third capital of the Canary Islands".