Lanzarote will receive 2.2 million euros to improve the waste transfer plant of the Zonzamas Environmental Complex, as announced by the president of the Cabildo, María Dolores Corujo, and the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, after the meeting they held this Tuesday.
This meeting, which was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Territorial Planning of the Regional Executive, Leopoldo Díaz, served to address the "great challenges" that the island has, especially in energy matters, and in which both institutions are working.
"Lanzarote lives from its landscape, its environment, its surroundings and it is a canvas that must be cared for and protected," said María Dolores Corujo, who highlighted the "importance" of the ordinance promoted by the Cabildo "to establish homogenization criteria for the development of renewable energies on the Island."
"We are outlining a joint planning with the island councils to establish where renewable energy resources should be located," said the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, who highlighted the need to end "with the tensions on the territory" that the "lack of planning" has been generating.
In energy matters, the Minister of the Regional Executive also pointed out that they will continue to promote the self-consumption of renewable energies through aid and that they will also try to promote the implementation of different energy communities.
Likewise, the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands will work to implement desalination plants that "are 100 percent sustainable, so that the energy they consume is clean energy."
Regarding the Timanfaya National Park, in addition to continuing to promote research on geothermal energy, the Minister of the Regional Government assured that they will try to “accelerate as much as possible” the approval of the installation of the medium voltage line that carries electricity to this area of the island.
Recovery of biodiversity
From the Cabildo they point out that the recovery of the island's biodiversity was also another of the issues discussed during the meeting. In this regard, the "successful" progress of the habitat restoration works that have been carried out on the summits of Famara was highlighted and the need to carry out "specific interventions" in other points such as the Charco de Clicos or the trail areas was highlighted.
In addition, the joint collaboration of the Cabildo de Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands, worth two million euros, to recover the Lanzarote palm grove was highlighted. "For too many years it was not given the specific treatment and we must treat the palm grove and intervene," said María Dolores Corujo in this regard.
From the point of view of planning, the Minister of the Government of the Canary Islands expressed his commitment "to finish in this legislature" the Plan for the Management of Natural Resources (PORN) of the Chinijo Archipelago. "We have already finished the process of allegations and we are in the final stages", said José Antonio Valbuena.
Regarding waste management, in addition to the investment of 2.2 million to convert the Zonzamas Environmental Complex "into a point where the circular economy is a reference" -of which 1.8 million will come from State funds and the rest from the Regional Government-, Valbuena also announced that 1.5 million will be allocated to sealing two illegal landfills that "have no activity but must be sealed to avoid any type of sanction from the EU."
Likewise, the Corporation points out that there was also talk of the works of the 'Project for the installation of the Zonzamas-Arrieta transport pipe, North Line 1, in which a modification is currently being made "to adjust it with respect to the ownership of the land", as explained by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, who assured that the works "will be restarted as soon as it is approved." "We hope that this work can be carried out throughout this year", said the president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo.
