The LEP - Sí Podemos group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote denounces that the socialist government of the first island institution intends to spend 551,719 euros on advertising and propaganda, a fact that for the purple formation is totally “unjustifiable.”
For the island group, this expense in the socio-economic crisis situation generated by the covid pandemic is totally “out of place, as nothing justifies public money being squandered in this way.”
The total amount, which is divided into numerous items spread across all expenditure programs, is higher than that dedicated to the Social Assistance Fund (400,000 euros), the total budget of the Insular Theater (501,000 euros), or the comprehensive renovation of the building intended for the Minors Protection Center (508,183 euros).
The LEP - Sí Podemos group has proposed, through a partial amendment, that 130,000 euros of that expense be transferred to the General Directorate of Heritage for the realization of the island catalog. “This tool is essential so that what we saw in Arrecife does not happen again, where speculation demolished two emblematic buildings of the city.” The initial item corresponding to this transfer was only 50,000 euros, which is “clearly insufficient, since the estimated cost of that tool is 800,000 euros,” according to the group's spokesperson, Myriam Barros.
This amendment, according to Barros, in addition to the active defense of heritage values, “will launch the much-needed transformation of the tourism sector, create qualified jobs, and settle a historical debt of the administration with the history of the island.”
14 amendments to end superfluous expenses
LEP - Sí Podemos has focused its objective on ending all those dispensable expenses that are not necessary for the functioning of the administration and directing that money to the transformation of the economic model and the protection of social rights.
Thus, it will propose in the plenary session this Friday that different items be moved to guarantee the execution of the School Health Service project, for the recovery of maretas, the increase of cultural and craft subsidies, or the protection of the environment, among other concepts.
“After the inexplicable cut in the deadline to present amendments by the government group, we wanted to focus on eliminating all unnecessary expenses and putting that money at the service of the people,” concluded Myriam Barros.