The vice president and Minister of Public Works and Transport of the Government of the Canary Islands, Pablo Rodríguez, stated this Tuesday in parliamentary headquarters that for this 2019 two actions will be developed in the port of Órzola with a budget of 316,000 euros. Specifically, the execution of the dredging of the inner harbor basin is planned to condition the access channel and increase the draft in order to facilitate the entry of all types of vessels and, on the other hand, the adaptation of the port's slipway will be carried out, with the construction of a new one attached to the existing one.
These works would be added to those completed at the end of last year, when the inner harbor basin was reorganized, through the placement of a dock for the use of boats destined for passenger traffic, with an item of 300,000 euros. "Thanks to these works, the port now has three more docks that accommodate 67 berths: 17 for boats of 8 meters in length and another 50 of 6 meters," explained the councilor, noting that a budget of 600,000 euros has been allocated to develop improvements in the port of Órzola
"The Port of Órzola, together with that of the island of La Graciosa, are facilities of general interest for the Autonomous Community, so different improvement actions are being developed to facilitate port activity and ensure that the fishing sector can develop its activity with the best possible conditions, and above all, with the maximum guarantees of safety," he said.
Dynamize the economy of the town
For his part, the deputy of the Canarian Nationalist Group (CC-PNC) and mayor of Haría, Marci Acuña, defended the need to condition the Port of Órzola "so that it represents a boost to the economy of the municipality".
"The interest of the Port of Órzola is justified by being the only connection between Lanzarote and La Graciosa, and by being the only entrance to the largest marine reserve in Europe," said Acuña, who stressed that "in the past year 2018, passenger traffic between Orzola and La Graciosa was 437,000 passengers".
According to the Lanzarote deputy, the medium-term future of this port involves "facilitating the coexistence between passenger transport lines to La Graciosa, fishing activity in a limited space (focused on sustainable development with the horizon set on the constitution of a fishermen's association) and the availability of a fuel depot".
One of the main problems, he said, "is the limited berthing line available for the two shipping companies that operate and that prevents them from docking simultaneously, in addition to needing the construction of some storage rooms for supplies, next to this new infrastructure". On the other hand, "the completion of the outer shelter is more than evident to achieve greater stability in the inner water sheet of the bay of Órzola, thus guaranteeing safe conditions in the operation of the boats, he added.
However, Acuña recognized "an important advance" in the construction of docks, an investment that has allowed to improve "significantly" the daily departure to the sea of professional and recreational fishermen.
