Lanzarote's PSOE demanded this Tuesday in a press conference that Oswaldo Betancort explain to the citizenry "why he has gone through three different decisions on water in less than 24 hours", after having gone in less than a day from the transfer of the service, the rescission of the contract, and the temporary intervention of the integral water cycle.
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, warned that "this succession of announcements and changes of direction evidences, once again, the absence of a serious roadmap in one of the most sensitive issues for Lanzarote and La Graciosa".
“Oswaldo Betancort must explain to the citizenry why he has gone through three different decisions about water in less than 24 hours,” Corujo affirmed.
Corujo has denounced that this new episode "is not an isolated event, but the continuation of a way of managing marked by hasty announcements, rectifications, and a lack of rigor".
"What Betancort has done in these three years has been to string together ideas and rectifications: first he attempted an injection of almost 90 million euros of public money for Canal Gestión which he could not materialize; then he declared two water emergencies that did not serve to solve the problem; exactly one year ago he announced the rescission of the contract, but halfway through he changed his mind, let Canal Gestión set the pace for him and began to defend the transfer of the service to another company, even going so far as to point out who the new contractor would be; and now he goes back on his word again to propose that the solution involves the rescission of the contract and the intervention of the service, making it clear that there has never been a serious roadmap to face the water crisis in Lanzarote", he assures.
“That has been the pattern during these three years: announce first, think later; improvise first, rectify later. And meanwhile, the citizenry has continued suffering the consequences of management without clear direction,” María Dolores Corujo pointed out.
“The serious thing is not just the contradiction. The serious thing is that we are talking about an essential service and an island that cannot stand another minute of uncertainty. Every swerve by Betancort has direct consequences on people's lives and on trust in institutions,” he stated.
Corujo insisted that the president of the Cabildo and the Consortium "cannot pretend to present this situation now as an exercise in political firmness, because what becomes evident is that he has made Lanzarote lose precious time while the problem worsened."
“The citizenry has the right to know what is happening, what is going to be done from now on and who is going to assume responsibility for having brought Lanzarote to this point. It is not enough to string together announcements. Clear explanations must be given, act with transparency and stop governing water with headlines,” he stated.
“Lanzarote does not need more propaganda, more confusion, or more eternal diagnoses. It needs certainties, rigor, and a serious response commensurate with the gravity of the problem. And, above all, it needs Oswaldo Betancort to stop confusing the public and explain why he has gone through three different decisions on water in less than 24 hours,” he concluded.