The Cabildo of Lanzarote presented this Wednesday the project that the Institution is executing for the removal of the pateras and remains of the boats that have arrived in the last three years to the coasts of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
The act included the interventions of the president, as well as the vice president of the Cabildo and president of the Security and Emergency Consortium, Marcos Bergaz, accompanied by the manager of the Consortium, Enrique Espinosa, and by personnel of the Fire Department.
The president began her speech lamenting the death of a migrant in a boat carrying 45 people on board, which was rescued last night east of Lanzarote. Also, one is in serious condition and 10 admitted to the Hospital. "We do not lose sight of the fact that this is a humanitarian drama and, many times, we forget among so many figures, noise and polarization of humanity, and we must avoid that."
Dolores Corujo stressed that, "through the action plan, the remains of eight pateras that had been on the coast of both islands for between two and three years have been cleaned up, in order to protect the environment and the coasts of Lanzarote and to promote a sustainable image of Lanzarote and La Graciosa."
"The first step was to request a report from the Environmental Service to geolocate the boats. There are a total of eight boats used by migrants that were stranded at different points along the coast. Six of these could not be accessed by vehicle. Personnel from the Security and Emergency Consortium have already removed half of them, those that were in La Graciosa and Montaña Clara. Now we will proceed to remove the other half, those that are in Lanzarote. Finally, depending on the state of each boat, they are chopped up or not, and transported to the Zonzamas Environmental Complex for treatment as organic waste," detailed the president.
"Let's not lose our humanity. On board these boats travel desperate people in search of better horizons, risking their lives and sometimes losing them. We are committed to Human Rights and to a dignified treatment of these people when they arrive on land," added Corujo.
Finally, the president praised the interventions of the Security and Emergency Consortium, which "have provided humanitarian assistance to the people who arrived on our coasts aboard boats from the African continent."
The boats were distributed between Montaña Clara (1), La Graciosa (3), and Costa de Soo, Caletón Blanco, Caleta del Mero and Punta del Palo, in Lanzarote.
