The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, began this Thursday in Haría a new round of meetings with the town councils of the island to address the main needs and projects of each municipality.
Accompanied by most of his team of councilors - Samuel Martín (Environment), Domingo Cejas (Water and Transport), Aroa Revelo (Crafts, Commerce and Youth), Marci Acuña (Social Welfare), Nori Machín (Seniors) and Francisco Javier Aparicio (Security and Emergencies) - Oswaldo Betancort presented a series of investments exceeding seven million euros to improve the supply and purification of water in the north of Lanzarote. This was reported by the Cabildo in a press release.
During the meeting in the plenary hall of Haría with the mayor of Haría, Alfredo Villalba, Betancort detailed the projects drafted to renovate the supply networks in Guinate, Tabayesco and Yé, which represent an investment of 4.5 million euros. In addition, the island institution has assured that it "has a hand to the mayor and the entire corporation to achieve the best for the residents of Haría."
“There are projects that are essential to improve the water infrastructure and reduce losses in the northern distribution network that are pending authorization from the City Council,” Betancort said in this regard.
"It is vital that we provide a solution to the demand for water in the north of the island; these investments will ensure a stable supply and quality for the coming years," the president stressed.
In that sense, the president requested “the streamlining and, above all, agile and direct communication between technicians from both administrations in the municipal authorization process to avoid delays, and that political differences do not affect the residents. Without municipal authorization we cannot tender the execution of the works,” the president assured.
Recent actions of the Island Water Council and the Water Consortium
The Island Water Council has invested to date 346,523.51 euros of the 642,818.27 budgeted for 2024 in infrastructure replacement in Haría. Among the completed works are the conditioning of the Órzola ravine (73,967.53 euros) and safety adaptation at the Mala dam (163,117.50 euros), as well as works in the Valle de Lomo Grande ravine, in the bidding phase, with a budget of 109,438.48 euros.
For 2025, the Council has planned an additional investment of 437,414.66 euros in the channeling of the secondary ravine of Valle de Temisa. The Water Consortium, for its part, has drafted the project to improve the Arrieta-Haría WWTP, a work valued at 1,954,408.42 euros, in cooperation with the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The expansion of the La Atalaya reservoir is also in progress, for 680,689.81 euros, and progress is being made on the project to improve agricultural supply networks in Máguez and Punta Mujeres, with an amount of 346,799.74 euros.
“These projects pending execution, -says the Minister of Water, Domingo Cejas-, “would be carried out by the Water Consortium of Lanzarote, taking into account Haría as a consortium member, which confirms that the percentage of participation of the municipalities in the consortium does not affect the investment line that is decided based on the needs of the nuclei.”
“The purpose of the Water Consortium of Lanzarote and La Graciosa does not attend to percentages or political colors, but it does attend to technical criteria and projects authorized by the town councils, being an essential requirement to be able to tender the works,” adds the councilor.
On the other hand, Cejas reminded the mayor of Haría that the Cabildo offers a tanker service to the primary sector. “Although there is no record of any request for tanker services submitted by Haría to the Consortium, it is already being provided and its residents know it because this year 11 tanker requests for supply have been attended to,” he assures.
Cleaning work is also being planned in ravines such as Tenesía and La Negra, and water lamination in the section of the Órzola ravine, at the entrance of the road to the port.
In addition to the water supply, the Cabildo and the City Council discussed issues related to transport and mobility on the LZ-1 (Arrecife-Órzola), and the modernization of bathing areas to improve the experience of residents and visitors. The effectiveness of the "taxi guagua" service in areas of low coverage was highlighted, and the acquisition of land in Haría for future housing projects was announced, among other issues affecting environmental management and protection of sensitive areas, such as cleaning in Órzola or action on palm trees, and also investments in commerce and traditional crafts, betting on Haría as a driver of an Island Crafts Plan.