Puertos Canarios will not rule out "a priori" the private initiative presented by [César Miralles from Lanzarote to take over the concession of the Marina Colón dock, in El Cable->76783], although it anticipates that the Cabildo's proposal "is very solid." "We are talking about safeguarding the general interest. The particular interest is legitimate, but it is not up to us to defend it, it is up to us to defend the public interest," the general director of Puertos Canarios, Juan José Martínez, told La Voz, thus betting on the public initiative of the Cabildo.
However, he explained that if the private promoter presents allegations to the Cabildo's project in the public exhibition process, "if necessary, a concurrent project procedure would be followed". "We do not want to rule it out a priori without having done the technical study that is required in case they make those allegations," he said.
Juan José Martínez insisted that "a proposal that allocates 100 percent of the infrastructure to maritime-sports use, which is non-profit and is presented by a public administration such as the Cabildo, seems like a very solid proposal." Puertos Canarios has already sent the Cabildo's proposal for publication in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands and from there a period of public exhibition will be opened, "in which any interested party can make the appropriate allegations."
"If the possible private adjudicator is willing to make a proposal with the same conditions as the Cabildo's, it would force a tender", admitted Juan José Martínez. However, Martínez stresses that the first institution intends to allocate all the space to nautical uses, while in the private initiative "50 percent of the installation is allocated to lucrative use, specifically, to a restaurant."
Therefore, being "different proposals", Puertos Canarios will have to assess them and issue "a mandatory report." "I don't know what the technicians will say, but in principle there is a proposal from a non-profit administration that intends to launch a service entirely dedicated to nautical activities," he said.
A "last minute" initiative
Martínez also assured that "it has never happened in the history of concessions that an initiative has suddenly arrived at the last minute." In this sense, he recalled that César Miralles' proposal "arrived after the start of the Cabildo's application process." "When a public initiative finally appears, after the tender was declared void years ago, another one appears. These are things that happen and we will assess them technically," he said.
The general director of Puertos has admitted that from the point of view "of a business entity", he would get more money from the private initiative, since the fee would be higher than the one the Cabildo would have to pay. "We are not only a business entity, but we are a public-business entity and before the economic performance itself is the public interest, the general interest," he defended, while pointing out that his legislation "prioritizes" the initiative that allocates 100 percent of the space to nautical activities.
"We would have to give up a public service"
For his part, the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, has also valued this private initiative to obtain the concession of Marina Colón and has assured that "it is legitimate and positive if there was no other of public interest." In addition, San Ginés has criticized the words of César Miralles, who assured that if his proposal manages to be the beneficiary of this award, the Cabildo "would save the public investment", estimated at about 200,000 euros.
"I do not agree that the proposal is made either by manipulating or by lying, because it is not true that the Cabildo would save 200,000 euros, mainly because it could not undertake the investment if the private initiative occupies this part," he indicated. "We would have to give up a public service, a non-profit public initiative, for a private initiative," he indicated.
San Ginés has assured that the Cabildo intends to provide the Latin sailing with the space it needs, since the Insular Center for Nautical Sports is "congested." "The aim is to decongest this space by removing Latin sailing from there and improving services. Latin sailing is the only one of the island's native sports that does not have facilities. We do not aspire to what Latin sailing has in Gran Canaria, but to a place where the sailing family has an opportunity to resurface," defended the president of the Cabildo.
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[A private initiative also wants to take over the concession of Marina Colón and warns Puertos that it will be "vigilant" in the process->76783]
[Puertos Canarios confirms that it will award the concession of Marina Colón to the Cabildo, which will invest about 200,000 euros in this dock->76757]