“The analysis of the budgets approved by the Tinajo government group dismantles the excuses and lies that the mayor, Jesús Machín, has been using to not approve lines of aid to residents and SMEs that are suffering the economic consequences generated by the Covid-19 crisis”. This was denounced by the Renovating Movement of Tinajo, which since last summer has twice taken a motion to the Plenary with proposals to alleviate this situation, which have been rejected.
“The mayor claimed that there was an income problem in the City Council. He told us that the real income was around 7 million euros and that in 2020 they were going to receive almost two million euros less. That they would be left with just 5 million, which would be enough to pay the payroll and current expenses and that they would barely have anything else”, recalled the spokesperson for the Renovating Movement of Tinajo, Antonio Morales. However, his "surprise" came when he saw the budget that was finally approved last February, two months after the end of the year.
“It barely has a decrease of 170,000 euros compared to 2019. It barely goes down”, Morales emphasizes. In addition, he questions that “while the government group is not taking any measures to help the people who are having the worst time, other items have skyrocketed and unnecessary expenses have been maintained".
Only for “protocol expenses”, the budget has allocated an item of 24,000 euros, “when we have also gone through months of confinement and then meetings have been prohibited”, warns Antonio Morales, who points out that 100,000 euros have also been allocated to “bonuses”. “They have even had the nerve to increase the remuneration to the government group by 3,000 euros compared to 2019”, he adds.
Even greater have been the increases in other items, such as the controversial waste collection service, which should have been put out to tender a year and a half ago but has continued to be extended to the same company. Specifically, he states that the expense has gone from 325,000 euros the previous year to 400,000 euros in 2020, which represents an increase of more than 23%, when the service “continues to be provided poorly and even worse than before”.
More than 800,000 euros in "opaque" awards
In addition, the Renovating Movement of Tinajo also questions that 438,000 euros have been allocated to the “signage of roads”, and expresses its suspicion towards other expenses, such as the 800,000 euros in payments to companies for work carried out for the City Council, of which the opposition is not informed. In this regard, the party denounces the opacity with this issue, since they are not being given information about the minor contracts that are awarded, despite the fact that the City Council is obliged to post them on the internal platform of the City Council.
“It is regrettable that the government group has not applied any measures to help the residents and that it voted against ours, because it said that they were going to have almost 2 million less compared to the budget of the previous year, when we then see that this is not true, and that there are items that have been spent that were not necessary. It's outrageous”, says Antonio Morales.
The Renovating Movement of Tinajo presented the first motion last August, with several points with measures to help residents and SMEs. In addition, it was already proposing to address it not only with its own resources, but also by making arrangements with other administrations. For example, to change the policies with employment plans, which are aimed at a very specific profile, but forget other sectors that would also need specific plans, such as young people.
At that time, in addition to alleging the lack of income, the mayor promised to bring all the groups together to agree on measures and agree on a minimum of actions. With that promise, the Renovating Movement of Tinajo agreed to leave its motion on the table, but the reality is that the mayor never called them to that meeting.
The party then took its motion back to the Plenary of last October, and the government group voted against each and every one of the measures it proposed. Among other things, the MRT demanded a specific employment plan for people and families affected by the current crisis, taking into account young people. And the party warns of the danger that this situation may pose for the new generations, who “need to feel useful and run the risk of taking other paths”.
Waive taxes and help the primary sector
Among the measures rejected by the Canarian Coalition in that Plenary, was another aimed at waiving municipal taxes for companies that have been affected by the crisis. In addition, the Renovating Movement of Tinajo also demanded that agreements be signed with specialized entities, public or private, for training, advice and professionalization of the primary sector. “Many times they don't know how to walk, they don't know where to go, they don't have support from anywhere, and the primary sector at this time is an exit for many people who are left without employment at this time”, defends Antonio Morales.
In fact, he explains that many young people are recovering farms that have been abandoned in the municipality for many years. “We have to find a way to help these people, because at the same time that they recover that farm to overcome this crisis, they also create landscape. Tinajo has to bet on agriculture, because one of the strengths of this municipality is the landscape provided by the farms”, he defends.
However, the government group also rejected the measures aimed at this sector, as well as the request to adapt and approve the General Plan urgently, “as a tool to generate economy and employment in the municipality”. “There are many people waiting for it to be adapted and approved and we demand that it be done immediately”, recalls Morales, who regrets that none of this has been considered important by the government group, which rejected all its proposals while spends the residents' money on “binges”, on “bonuses” and on expenses “that are not necessary at this time with the situation we are experiencing”.
