Following the sentence that condemns it to abandon the private land in Órzola where it installed a water tank, the Water Consortium "is already studying how to guarantee the supply to all residents" of the town. This was announced in a statement, in which it nevertheless states that it will appeal the ruling.
The sentence, issued by the Court of First Instance Number 5 of Arrecife, condemns the Consortium to abandon the property and recognizes the owners of the land as owners of all the facilities built inside. However, the institution's press release ignores this part of the ruling and focuses on emphasizing that the sentence "does not recognize compensation or rent." In this regard, it should be emphasized that what the plaintiffs were asking for is precisely what they have achieved: that the Consortium be forced to return possession of the land and that the institution lose any right over what it built on it without permission.
"The ruling recognizes that the Consortium built this facility on land that was ceded to it by the Haría City Council," the statement said, when the truth is that the ruling concludes that the City Council could not make that transfer because the land did not belong to it, but to the grandfather of the plaintiffs, who has already died.
The Consortium insists on appealing to a record that "is not valid"
In this regard, the Consortium insists that "the family's grandfather was informed by the Haría City Council and allowed the town to be supplied" in the 1980s, when the tank was built, but ignores that the ruling has expressly rejected that argument, which was the same one it used unsuccessfully in its response to the lawsuit.
In its statement, the Consortium also insists that "that transfer of land is registered in a record of a plenary session of the Haría City Council in 1982, where the northern Consistory makes the land available to the Water Consortium for the preparation of a project." However, far from that interpretation made by the Consortium in its press release, what the ruling actually points out is that that plenary record is not "valid to justify an acquisitive domain," given that the City Council was not the owner of the land.
Regarding the alleged "agreement" of the Consistory with the owner, the ruling concludes that not a single documentary proof of its existence has been provided. On the contrary, it points out that the documents in the case indicate that the works were carried out against his will.
In fact, there is a letter that the plaintiffs' grandfather sent to the City Council in 1989, in which he warned that his land had been occupied not only with the water tank, but also "with pipes and other accessories," and that the construction had been carried out without "any authorization" on his part and without him having been "notified." To this is added another record of a Haría Plenary Session of 1990, where according to the ruling "the problem of the land is revealed and a non-payment to Benjamín Barreto for the occupation carried out is reflected."
The institution disseminates an old email from the plaintiffs' defense
In addition to sending this statement, in which it emphasizes that one of the plaintiffs is the councilor of Ciudadanos, Benjamín Perdomo, the Consortium has also sent to the media an alleged email sent years ago by the plaintiffs' lawyer. Based on an image of that email, the institution maintains that the plaintiffs were asking for a millionaire compensation to renounce the lawsuit, equivalent to 200,000 euros for each year in which the land of their property has been occupied.
However, that alleged claim was not raised in the trial, where what was requested was to recover possession of the land with everything on it, in case it was proven that the Consortium acted in "bad faith," as the ruling has considered proven.
In this regard, the Court points out that in addition to the works carried out in the 1980s, the Water Consortium has continued to carry out others and expand the facility, "despite the continuous requirements of the affected family." The last works were carried out in 2014 by Canal Gestión and were also stopped by the Apmun, since they were started without even requesting the appropriate license.
