The Canaristas propose that the City Councils approve the Municipal Civil Protection and Emergency Plans (PEMU) and draw up Action Plans for Floods
Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) in Lanzarote and La Graciosa wanted to highlight the strength and solidarity of the people of Lanzarote and, especially, the residents of the municipalities most affected by the rains that occurred yesterday. They also point out the professionalism of the island's emergency teams, who are always up to the task, transmitting security and rigor.
Similarly, they reiterate, as they did last November, the need for the island's City Councils to approve their Municipal Civil Protection and Emergency Plans (PEMU), which were approved in 2019 by the Civil Protection and Emergency Care Commission of the Canary Islands, an organization made up of the Administration of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the General State Administration in the Canary Islands, the island councils and the Canarian municipalities, and which to this day have not been ratified in full with the exception of the municipality of San Bartolomé.
These plans, says the deputy and island president of the Canarista formation, Yoné Caraballo, "are fundamental to have adequate prevention in the face of both natural contingencies and those derived from human action, as demonstrated by yesterday's rains with a capacity of more than 100 liters per square meter in some parts of the island."
On the other hand, NC-BC urges the Island Council of Lanzarote and the seven City Councils of the island to follow the recommendations established in the "Flood Risk Management Plan of the Hydrographic Demarcation of Lanzarote (second cycle 2021-2027)", which already warns of "a greater frequency and intensity of extreme meteorological phenomena that can translate into human and material losses. In addition, both episodes of torrential rains and floods, as well as droughts, can generate negative consequences on the quality and availability of water, and even modify the conditions of agricultural and livestock production." A warning, continue the Canaristas, "that is not being taken into account in public actions by the competent administrations, since the same policies of works, occurrences and patching are still being prioritized, which, on many occasions, intensify the danger."
"The Lanzarote Flood Risk Management Plan points out the importance of having the PEMUS updated and approved, as well as the elaboration of "Action Plans for Floods" in all the municipalities of the island of Lanzarote, as they all have risk areas", point out from the Canarista organization, which recall that "the same plan warns of the important risk of floods in areas such as Argana or Costa Teguise, where the greatest incidents occurred yesterday."
"It will not be for not having identified the areas, the problems and the possible actions to be carried out. It will not be for the constant signs that climate change is warning us, as happened in Valencia. It will not be because we have not proposed it repeatedly to the public administrations. It seems that we are at the mercy of luck and waiting for something really serious to happen one day, such as human losses", laments Caraballo.
Sustainable Urban Planning
Another issue that NC-BC highlights is the need to implement sustainable and resilient urban planning, which once and for all orders what they describe as "urban planning of occurrence".
"Arrecife is not only not adapted to adverse climatic contingencies, being a truly unsafe city; but its urban design together with political insensitivity has made it a true garbage dump that goes directly to the sea", maintain the Canaristas, who point out the importance of incorporating sustainable drainage elements that capture rainwater and prevent garbage from reaching the sea through the marina".
"These sustainable drains preserve the quality of rainwater and allow retaining elements such as microplastics, garbage of all kinds, toxins, etc. that damage the coastline", they comment.