The mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, and the councilor delegate on the island of La Graciosa, Alicia Páez, have denounced that the public entity Puertos Canarios has not included the Caleta de Sebo dock within its Performance and Financing Program (PAIF) for 2021, an investment plan that will have 19.6 million euros to improve the ports of all the islands and that, “lamentably and inexplicably, excludes the island of La Graciosa.”
Betancort and Páez, who held a meeting this Wednesday on the Eighth Island, have lashed out against the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands, which transfers to Puertos Canarios almost 8 million of the total budget allocated to the PAIF.
“If Lanzarote is an island mistreated and ignored by those who run our autonomous community, La Graciosa is even more so, despite the fact that it is a fragile territory that suffers from triple insularity, and that can only survive thanks to maritime connections”, lamented Oswaldo Betancort, who begs the responsible councilor, Sebastián Franquis, “to reconsider the incorporation of new public items to be able to reform a dock that, due to its volume of activity, passenger movement and economic relevance, deserves a project to improve the current facilities, which would also have an impact on improving the image received upon arrival by those who visit us and, of course, ensure a perfect coexistence between local fishing and commercial activity with tourism and sports”, Betancort pointed out.
Alicia Páez declared for her part, that “the people of Graciosa will continue to demand the same treatment as the rest of the islands, because that is what they have fought for to be declared citizens of law and obtain recognition as an inhabited island, which is not a simple title, it is a reality that must be addressed from the main governmental administration of the Canary Islands.”
