The Water Consortium has initiated the procedure to temporarily intervene the water supply, sanitation, and reuse services, which since 2013 have been in the hands of the private company Canal Gestión Lanzarote. The institution has announced this news after announcing the breakdown of negotiations with the subsidiary company of Canal Isabel II of Madrid through which they sought to transfer the service to a third entity.
Two days ago, the Water Consortium had already announced that it was going to continue the contract termination process with Canal Gestión, after these negotiations failed. While now it has informed that the intention is to take over the service while that termination progresses.
"A serious disruption of service"
As reported by the Consortium and confirmed by La Voz, the decision was adopted on April 1 by the president of the Consortium, Oswaldo Betancort. This step was decided after receiving a technical-administrative report from the managing director in which the existence of "a serious disruption of the service, as well as contractual breaches by the concessionaire that directly affect users and the public interest" is confirmed.
According to the Water Consortium, the facts show "a situation that goes beyond isolated incidents, as deficiencies have been detected in the conservation of the facilities and in the provision of the service that compromise its normal operation". Furthermore, it is stressed that ordinary measures "are insufficient to correct this situation, which makes immediate administrative action necessary to guarantee the continuity of the service".
Given this scenario, the Consortium has initiated the processing of a file aimed at the adoption of the temporary intervention measure of the concession, with the objective of reestablishing the operational stability of the hydraulic system, ensuring the supply and correcting the dysfunctions detected in the management.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and of the Water Consortium, Oswaldo Betancort, has stated that “we cannot allow non-compliance to continue harming the citizenry; when an essential service like water is put at risk, the administration has the obligation to act with firmness.”
Assume the service while the contract is resolved
The intervention proposal is also framed within the contractual resolution procedure already initiated by the Consortium, being able to be adopted as a precautionary measure within said file or as an independent action, depending on the legal reports that are issued in the next phases of the process.