María Dolores Corujo presents "expansive and strongly social" budgets

It amounts to 170.3 million euros, which represents an increase of 21.7 million euros compared to 2021 and the extended 2022

January 26 2023 (15:26 WET)
Updated in January 26 2023 (16:02 WET)
María Dolores Corujo
María Dolores Corujo

The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, surrounded by the members of her Government group, presented on Thursday morning the General Budget Project of the Institution for the Year 2023. She did so during an appearance before the press, at the MIAC-Castillo de San José (Arrecife).

“It is a realistic General Budget because it affects the real problems of Lanzarote and La Graciosa; and it is a forecast of a marked social character, ambitious, because it incorporates in parallel to our financial muscle an important amount of remainders that will allow us to mobilize a volume of resources unprecedented in the history of this Cabildo”, the island's leader stated today when framing the planning of the annual accounts that her executive has devised under the slogan of equality and protection for the most vulnerable people.

The general lines of the Budget Project of the institution and its dependent bodies reflect “a change of cycle”, said Corujo, “because we are saying goodbye to the health crisis caused by the pandemic of Covid-19 to enter a new territory, marked by the consequences of the war in Ukraine”, a panorama to which the island territory is no stranger. “We sincerely believe that this forecast of income and expenses will help us to face with solvency the challenges of a changing society”, added the president.

 

An ambitious Budget with social muscle 

The General Budget project of the Cabildo of Lanzarote will amount to 170.3 million euros this Year 2023, which means that it increases by 21.7 million euros (+14.64%) compared to the year 2021 and the extended in 2022. This increase, as detailed by the island's president, is mainly due to the growth experienced by the Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN), which rises by 10.9 million euros compared to 2021 and thanks to the improvement of the determining block of Canarian financing.

“While this budget figure of 170.3 million euros is important, we will soon be able to have another fifty million euros from the remainders”, María Dolores Corujo clarified before recognizing “the extraordinary effort” made by the economic area and the bodies dependent on the Cabildo to have the appropriate liquidation of the previous year, a previous step to be able to incorporate those remainders.

By specific areas, the island's Government group has placed special emphasis on the Department of Social Rights, “which has been the best tool of this Government to face the challenges derived from the pandemic and which now has to give a new boost”, commented Corujo. It has been decided to reinforce in the new document the items destined to the attention to Dependency, going from 15.4 to 19.5 million euros (+4.1M€). 

Presupuestos 2023
 

In addition, the president recalled that during the next months the implementation of the Consortium for the management of the Island Service of Integral Attention to Dependency of Lanzarote (SAIDIL) is planned, which will attend to about 900 dependent people in its first year. “The creation of this new service will involve the investment of more than 26 million euros until 2024, which will be financed mostly with charge to the dependency agreement by the Government of the Canary Islands”, she detailed.

Likewise, the social chapter will be fed by the contributions collected in the Plan of Subsidies charged to remainders, a list of nominated subsidies foreseen for this year that includes the money of the Social Emergency Fund (subsidies to the town councils of 400,000€); of the Social Assistance Fund (Social Emergency Aid of 660,000€); the Rents and other expenses NGOs Aid (200,000€); the supports to the NGOs in matters of social welfare (1,608,900€); the Aid to women victims of gender violence (1,584,921.86€); the allocation of Social Welfare to Dependency (395,576.61€); the one marked for the NGOs within the Socio-sanitary Program of Attention to Disability (1,189,345.25€); and the Aid to rents for eviction for vulnerable families (400,000€).

“I would like to clarify this point again. For pure budgetary technique, we have divided the subsidies into two large blocks including in the budget those of competitive concurrence, to have them ready as soon as possible, given that they carry a greater administrative burden. The second block, that of the nominated subsidies, will be approved a few days later together with the incorporation of remainders”, the highest island official explained to the press.

 

More employment and decarbonization

In the section of Primary Sector, María Dolores Corujo has highlighted today the item of 500,000€ destined to the feeding of breeding animals, as well as the 100,000€ that will go to the promotion of new agri-food companies, and the same amount to the restoration of sandpits. The island's investment expenses in the fishing sector are estimated at 200,000€ in these accounts.

“In addition to the subsidies, the items destined to the primary sector are increased by 2.6 million, going from 4.3 to 6.9 million, in the effort to continue reducing food dependence from abroad and promoting ecological agriculture and livestock farming”, Corujo has detailed, who also referred to the subsidy of 308,000€ to the New Society of Hunters.

The investment in Employment will continue to be one of the battle horses of the current Government group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote: “We continue committed to contribute to reduce unemployment, especially long-term unemployment, through employment plans of our own and financed by the Canarian Employment Service, for which the item has been increased by 1.1 million euros until reaching 3 million euros”, she noted. 

In addition, the Cabildo will allocate 2.5 M€ to the town councils of the island for the development of a Green and Social Employment Plan. To which are added 1.5M€ dedicated to Employment Generating Projects (subsidy to local corporations), the 108,000€ of the Emprende Lanzarote program and the 147,699€ that are collected for the Promotion, dynamization and promotion of employment.

A significant increase is also experienced by the Education section, which now has an item that amounts to 1.3 million euros, rising from half a million in 2021 to 1.9 million euros in this 2023.

The Environment Area has in this Budget Project with 2.1 million euros, after a slight increase that seeks to continue acting in the control and eradication of invasive species of fauna and flora, as well as continue with the environmental restoration of the Risco de Famara.

Likewise, the Cabildo introduces an item of 308,000 euros destined to the area of Animal Welfare. “And as for decarbonization, beyond the institution's own policies of saving and energy efficiency and the investment effort that is carried out through the Water Consortium, we have foreseen half a million euros for subsidies in the field of renewable energies”, assured the president.

Presentación de los presupuestos de 2023
Presentation of the 2023 budgets

The investment in Waste is doubled 

With respect to the area of Waste, its economic allocation is doubled going from 6 to 12 million euros; something that is motivated by the new investments that will be made to improve the treatment and recycling of waste to reach the circular economy in the Environmental Complex of Zonzamas. In addition, it is contemplated to start installing the brown containers for biodegradable organic waste, but not in the whole island. The reason is that the area of Waste proposed its insularized collection, but only the town councils of San Bartolomé and Haría expressed their formal commitment to adhere. On the other hand, the execution of a Clean Point in the municipality of Tinajo is planned, after the inauguration a few months ago of the one located in Teguise.

In the epigraph of Heritage, the economic planning of the Cabildo of Lanzarote for 2023 underlines two important acquisitions, that is, the purchase of the old headquarters of Correos and the Casa del Cabrerón, in Arrecife. “I think we will all agree on the extraordinary importance of the administrations acquiring this type of property to guarantee its conservation and to achieve, in addition, its putting at the disposal of the citizens”, Corujo nuanced. In the case of the old headquarters of Correos, it will be destined to the Museum of the Sea and the Casa del Cabrerón to equipment of the neighborhood of Valterra.

 

Increase of 2.7 million euros in the item of Transports

The sports subsidies in the Budget project includes for the Promotion and promotion of sport a total of 841,682.90 euros, to which are added the supports to high competition athletes (50,000€), to sports schools (301,682.90€), and to the displacements of teams and athletes (425,000€). For the arbitrations of base football 65,000€ will be delivered.

With respect to the area of Transports, the item destined to the terrestrial transport of people is increased in a very significant way, which rises in 2.7 million euros, so the terrestrial transport of people goes from 350,000 euros in 2021 to 3.1 million euros in 2023. “It is convenient to remember at this point that the area of Transports will put out to tender in 2023 a new contract for the interurban public transport in Lanzarote, much more ambitious, sustainable, that gives answer to the growing demand, of greater comfort, of greater frequency and to connect more and better the population centers”, the president has argued.

As for the Municipal Cooperation Plan, the budget of 2023 contemplates an item of 5.8 million euros that possibly will be extended with the incorporation of remainders in the effort to satisfy the needs of endowments and infrastructures of the seven municipalities, as the heads of the Cabildo have communicated.

“In what refers to the territorial ordering, not only the PIOL, but also the instruments that regulate the different natural spaces, we have included an item of 1.1 million euros”, added María Dolores Corujo. 

 

Dependent organisms

Entering in the organisms dependent on this Cabildo, with the exception of the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism, in set they will receive income for value of more than 10 million euros. 

Thus, the Society of Exterior Promotion of Lanzarote (SPEL) will receive 2.5 million; the Consortium of Security and Emergencies 3.2 million and the Island Tributary Network 850,000 euros. For its part the Water Consortium of Lanzarote and the Island Council of Waters will receive 3.7 million euros.

Finally, to indicate that the budgetary design of 2023, contrary to what happened at the end of the past mandate, will allow the managers designated by the citizenship in the polls after May 28 to have “an adequate instrument to direct the first months of trajectory”, added María Dolores Corujo when she spoke today of the “exercise of responsibility” that must preside over the decision making of those who govern for the entire population, independently of their political colors.

 

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