The mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, has celebrated that the Cabildo Plenary Session has approved the request to remove the speed cameras from the Vía Ciclista that runs through the Natural Park of the Volcanoes, but even so, he has announced that he is going to try to "seal them off for disobedience". "Because I don't trust them," said the mayor, who believes that this will make the residents "more calm", as he says that they are "super upset".
It should be remembered that the Tinajo City Council already approved in Plenary Session in July 2017 to halt the construction of the speed cameras, arguing that they did not have a license. However, the works continued and solar panels were recently placed on them. According to the Cabildo, they do not require authorization. "A report from the legal services of the Cabildo establishes that the license is not necessary because it is within the easement line and they are necessary elements for road safety," defended the Councilor for Public Works, Saray Rodríguez, who also assured that the City Council had only responded with "silence" to the various requirements that had been made from the institution for it to pronounce on the project
"That is what she interprets and she interprets the administrative silence when she wants, but that discussion will be in the Courts," Jesús Machín has now stated, questioning the legality of the works again. "If it were legal and they have all the permits, why has the company that has been putting up the plates been doing it hiding and looking for specific moments? Because I sent the Police and they were no longer there and when we realized they were already in place," said the mayor of Tinajo.
"That's how they have been acting, although this will surely be an award from the Traffic Department, because the Cabildo signs an agreement and the Traffic Department is the one that awards the work," Machín clarified, who also said that he had received "out of place and inappropriate words" from "a gentleman who was there before and who was a Traffic engineer." "Although I think this gentleman is no longer there," he added.
He does NOT think it is right that CC voted against it in the Cabildo
Thus, although he was "happy" that the Cabildo plenary session approved the request to remove the speed cameras, the mayor of Tinajo said that the City Council will continue with its procedures in parallel. "I am going to sit down with the technicians today to see if we can seal them off for disobedience to be more calm, because the residents are super upset," announced Jesús Machín, who nevertheless has thanked "from the heart" all the political groups that supported the motion of Somos Lanzarote.
"Because we believe it is fair. First, because of what it can cause in the municipality and, second, because of the issue of the impact." Now I hope that this is processed with the Ministry and that the decision is approved and they are removed," Machín said. Thus, although the PP abstained in the vote, he hopes that the Councilor for Public Works "listens to the people of Tinajo and that she agrees with what has been agreed in the plenary session and goes to the Ministry."
However, the mayor of Tinajo said he "respects" and considers it "reasonable in quotation marks" that the populars abstained, as did the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés. "What I don't think is right is all those who voted against the motion," Jesús Machín pointed out, referring in this case to his own colleagues, that is, to the rest of the CC councilors, as well as to Manuel Cabrera and Juan Manuel Sosa, who were the ones who did not support the Somos initiative. "But I am here to defend the interests of my neighbors, not the interests or requests of my CC colleagues," he wanted to make clear.
Make a parallel lane for the Vía Ciclista
For Jesús Machín, the solution to the issue of speed on the road of the Natural Park of the Volcanoes would be "easy" and would involve "making a parallel lane" through which the Vía Ciclista runs. "They should also approve it," said the mayor of Tinajo, referring to the Cabildo.
"Because the residents of Tinajo have their right, because they pay taxes just like everyone else, to be able to go on the road at a moderate speed, at 80 kilometers, which is what we are asking for, and the reports say that it can be done," Machín said, mentioning "the report that the City Council made spending 5,500 euros, which says that the speed can be increased in four sections of the road."
In this sense, the mayor of Tinajo has also criticized that Yaiza and Tías "do not protest" despite the fact that the speed cameras are "from Mancha Blanca to Yaiaza. "And do you know where they would have to make a bike lane that there have been accidents and fatalities?", added Jesús Machín, who pointed out that he has also proposed "that the road from El Cuchillo to Caleta de Caballo be conditioned as a bike lane" pointing out that "almost every day between 300, 400 and 500 cyclists pass through the general road of Tinajo."
