The Vice President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina, received this Friday the Vice President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez, in what has been his first official visit to the island with the aim of addressing some priority issues, among which are the migratory phenomenon, the water crisis or economic diversification.
Medina thanked the Vice President for the fact that the first official visit was made precisely to the Cabildo of Lanzarote, which is currently facing "very important issues to be faced during the next four years with the unprecedented migratory crisis we are experiencing." "Especially taking into account the lack of material and human resources that exists to assist the immigrants who arrive, given the lack of response from the State Government," says Medina.
In this sense, Domínguez highlighted the "difficulty" of putting on the table "real data on the arrival of boats to our coasts" because he recognizes that "they become obsolete every day."
"We have to put new figures on the table: the 120 boats and the more than 5,300 people who have arrived this year, show that the resources are completely obsolete today," explains the vice president.
Faced with this reality, Manolo Domínguez, has once again reiterated the request to the central government for "a single command in migratory matters", and that the President of the Government of the Canary Islands "will raise it" with the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, at the meeting to be held in the coming days. "We hope that this is the last time we make this claim and we do not have to work with six different ministries," said Domínguez.
On migratory matters, he expressed the "need" for the Government to be aware that "more infrastructure and resources are needed to care for the more than 3,000 minors currently hosted in the Canary Islands." "We celebrate the possibility that other autonomous communities can host 347 minors, which is an important figure, but it is still not very significant."
"We will continue to defend that it is not only a matter of solidarity, but that the management of the State, which should be the one that takes the referrals only to the autonomous communities of Spain, but also to third countries of the European Union, so that in this way, among all, a better life can be given to those who flee from war, famine and are risking their lives at sea," he added.
The water situation in Lanzarote
Another issue that the vice president raised with the regional leader was the water supply on the island, and Medina recognizes that "it is undoubtedly one of the main challenges facing the current island government and to which we must provide a solution in this mandate."
"Regarding water, we have been quite clear with the Government of the Canary Islands, and we have reiterated that in order to solve the supply problems that are registered in some municipalities and in La Graciosa, autonomous financing is required, yes or yes, because otherwise we will not be able to solve the water crisis.
The also Minister of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Self-Employed has announced that the Government of the Canary Islands "is already working so that in the next budgets there can be economic resources that, added to the investments that the State can make, serve to solve this serious problem.
"We cannot allow that in the 21st century in Lanzarote or in any island of the archipelago these serious deficiencies are occurring," Domínguez acknowledged.
Flexibility with FDCAN funds
Regarding economic issues, Jacobo Medina has taken advantage of the visit to request the Government of the Canary Islands "to be flexible and contemplate an extraordinary extension of the FDCAN funds due to the lack of execution of the projects by the previous island government."
After the official reception, a working meeting was held in which the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Felipe Afonso El Jaber, also participated; the General Director of Analysis and Studies, Andrés Miguel González Díaz; the island councilor of Finance and Contracting, María Jesús Tovar; the head of the Presidency Area, Miguel Ángel Jiménez Cabrera, and the councilor of Crafts and Commerce, Cinthia Aroa Revelo Betancort.
