The mayor of Yaiza and also councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Óscar Noda, intervened on Wednesday morning on the radio station Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero to explain the requests that the Water Consortium of Lanzarote, chaired by Oswaldo Betancort, has made to the different municipalities of the island after declaring the water emergency in Lanzarote.
The councilor for Unidos por Yaiza-Nueva Canarias in the Island Council has explained that the Consortium has asked the councils to avoid watering the gardens, cleaning the containers or washing down "certain areas" of the municipality. Noda has informed in the morning show Buenos días, Lanzarote that during a meeting held this month of February, the municipal representatives were given "a draft edict" in which these actions were included. In addition, they asked individuals to avoid filling swimming pools and even contemplated that the police could carry out inspections to see if these measures are complied with or not.
"The integral water cycle is as it is," said the southern leader during his speech. "Sometimes we focus more on production and supply, which is important, but we also have to see where that water goes. For now we do not have agricultural water, now little more than with this water emergency, pulled out of the sleeve, we cannot water the gardens," he continued.
Noda has advanced that "many" of the island representatives present at the meeting did not agree with the proposed measures. "A draft edict was sent, when bad things have to be applied, the town councils are charged, but other times missives are sent from the Cabildo, although we are consortium and not for these cases," he has reproached the island government group, formed by Coalición Canaria and the Partido Popular.
The southern leader has agreed to remove the footbaths from the municipality and has added that they only have one in the well-known El Pueblo beach. However, he has refused not to clean the containers or wash down certain areas due to the health risk that this could entail. "Reducing the frequency, maybe, we would have to see, but health is the first thing," he added.
Regarding the possibility of stopping watering the gardens, Noda has indicated that this option contradicts the experts, who defend that the palm grove must be watered. At the same time, he has asked the Island Government that "it is time to start acting now that it has those seven million thanks to that improvised and pulled out of the sleeve water emergency."
"Many times a real measurement is not made, but estimates are made and there it starts to be sent upwards, speaking clearly," he added, about whether the Cabildo had done any study to determine the impact that these measures would have, if they were approved.
For his part, the southern representative has placed his hope in obtaining regenerated water to be able to keep the gardens watered up to date.
