The Governing Council of the Cabildo of Lanzarote approved this Thursday morning the start of the bidding process for the project and construction of the High Requirement Center for the Elderly in Tahíche. In total, it will have a budget of 18,424,644 euros, and an execution period of six months for the project and 24 months for the construction of the building.
“We had to start the administrative procedure from scratch to have one of the most demanded infrastructures on the island,” said the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort.
“Through the construction of this socio-health center, the aim is to meet part of the demand for the elderly who require medium-high socio-health requirements, with the building having the physical, architectural and functional conditions adapted to the needs of the users,” explained the Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo, Marci Acuña.
The socio-health center will have a residential area with 75 places and a day center with 50 places. The maintenance and expenses incurred, once the work is completed, will be financed through a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of Lanzarote for the provision of services to people in a situation of dependency or with disabilities.
According to data provided by the Dependency Area of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the waiting list for residential places amounts to 353 dependent elderly people (Grade I, II and III) and a waiting list for places in day centers that amounts to 354 dependent elderly people (Grade I, II and III).
This commitment becomes this Thursday the opportunity for this Center for the Elderly to have an architectural and functional model adapted to the evolution of the care model in attention to Dependency, for which its design must be adapted in compliance with the Agreement of the Territorial Council of Social Services and the System for Autonomy and Attention to Dependency, on common criteria for accreditation and quality of centers and services of the System for Autonomy and Attention to Dependency, published in the B.O.E of August 11, 2022, on minimum requirements based on a new model of comprehensive care focused on the person and in compliance with the provisions of the Regulatory Regulation of Centers and Services that operate in the field of Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Attention to People in a situation of Dependency in the Canary Islands, approved by Decree 67/2012, of July 20, modified by Decree 154/2015, of June 18, 2015.
Therefore, this new architectural structure of the Center for the Elderly will be based on the person-centered care model (ACP), whose residence will have 75 residential places for a medium-high socio-health requirement, which must be built in cohabitation units, with a maximum of 15 residents, where private and shared spaces are combined whose objective is to promote the well-being of residents through the creation of positive environments and spaces that promote the autonomy and independence of people and the feeling of belonging to a home.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote has assured that the construction of a Center for the Elderly "will have an impact on the island's economy, producing significant social profitability." Thus, the highest island institution has pointed out that "during the construction phase, it will contribute to generating jobs related to the construction sector due to the investment in civil works and facilities associated with the project, in the form of employment contracts, acquisition of machinery, raw materials and equipment, generation of business profits, etc."
Delays in the project
On the other hand, the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has pointed out that upon his arrival in power he found “a failed project, of which only the first stone had been laid, and that later the previous government left in oblivion and total abandonment, until we took the reins, canceling the contract with the awarding company for breach of the same to now be able to give this great news: this Cabildo is going to respond to the population of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and to the socio-health needs of our elderly.”
Meanwhile, the former Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Isabel Martín, denounced a few months ago that "it was the government presided over by Pedro San Ginés that awarded to the UTE Residenza, for an amount of almost 19 million euros, a Residence for the Elderly in Tahíche with the capacity to accommodate 130 people in a residential regime and to serve another 50 as a day center", explained Martín.
As the former head of Social Rights, the councilor recalled the difficulties in starting the construction of this socio-health resource due to "the delay caused, precisely, by Oswaldo Betancort who as mayor of Teguise took more than a year to grant inter-administrative cooperation, an essential requirement to start the works" that, in addition, were delayed again due to difficulties with the qualification of the land."
“Once the administrative procedure for resolving the previous contract has been resolved, we are in a position to ensure that Lanzarote will have a quality socio-health offer and that we will put all our efforts into ensuring that the work is a reality within the established deadlines,” says the president.
