The PIL, which for years has been at the head of Inalsa, has made its proposal to "save" the company official, which is on the verge of bankruptcy and in bankruptcy proceedings. The president of the party, Fabián Martín, assured this Tuesday in a press conference that he is betting on the entry of private capital to guarantee the viability of the public water company. Martín insisted that an external company could become a shareholder of part of Inalsa to reduce the debt, which reaches 40 million euros.
"The PIL is committed to allowing the entry of private capital to face some needs. These include an increase in production, a review of the distribution networks that, for example, in Arrecife lose 50 percent of the water, and improvements in water reuse," said Fabián Martín, who assured that he is committed to negotiating this commitment with the rest of the political formations of Lanzarote.
This idea had already been considered for some time by the PIL, and especially by its leader, [Dimas Martín, as revealed in the summary of Operation "Unión"->34688]. In one of its reports, the UCO agents maintained that the viability plan presented by this party in April 2008, which involved the injection of several million euros into the water company, was the beginning of the privatization of Inalsa. According to investigations carried out by the Civil Guard, the founder of the PIL acknowledged in February 2009 that he wanted to privatize 30 percent of Inalsa, according to several telephone conversations that the UCO had tapped.
Privatize management
In addition to formulating the proposal to allow private capital to enter, Fabián Martín has now assured that it is also possible that, while maintaining all public shareholding, the integral management of the water cycle in Lanzarote will be put out to public tender. That is, leaving the management of water in private hands. According to Martín, the other possibility to reduce Inalsa's debt would be for the owners, that is, the Insular Water Consortium, to contribute capital. This would mean that the Cabildo and the town councils should supply money to the company, something that the president of the PIL considers "unviable", given the economic problems that public institutions are going through.
The president of the PIL has provided several data on the economic situation of Inalsa to try to show the need for private capital to enter. According to him, Inalsa's turnover is around 2.3 million euros per month, to which should be subtracted the general expenses that reach 1.6 million euros. This would mean that Inalsa earns about 600,000 or 700,000 euros per month. However, this figure must be reduced by the consumption of electricity, which amounts to 1.1 million euros per month. "We are talking about Inalsa generating losses of around 600,000 euros per month, which means that the company loses 6 million euros per year", Martín said.
Criticism of the bankruptcy administrators
The president of the PIL has launched a question into the air: "Where do you want to take Inalsa and at what cost?". And, according to him, since the public water company entered bankruptcy proceedings, "nothing is known about what is being done in Inalsa".
"When the PIL had responsibilities at the head of Inalsa, any movement, even the smallest, was absolutely scrutinized by the media and by the rest of the political parties. For two years, nothing has been known about what is being managed and what the public company's intentions are. I don't know if it's a kind of colonial syndrome, which leads us to think that everything that is managed from the outside has guarantees, but the proof is that two years later nothing has improved in Inalsa", Martín defended.
In this sense, he has criticized the management of the three bankruptcy administrators. And, in his opinion, the investments that should have been carried out by Inalsa have had to be assumed by the Cabildo and the Insular Water Council. These amount to almost 2 million euros and have mainly been invested in the Uga-Las Breñas pipeline. "This should have been financed by Inalsa, but in a kind of exit, the Cabildo has been used," he insisted.
He has also criticized the fact that the bankruptcy administrators have achieved a salary increase and have gone from earning 200,000 euros each to 300,000 euros. "It may be legal, but I wonder if it is ethical, not only because of the times of crisis we are living through, but also because of the results that the company has today," he said. "Not content with that, last week a 40 percent tariff increase was proposed to balance the company," he denounced. For all these reasons, Fabián Martín has asked himself "what have been the real advantages of having the bankruptcy administration".
Complaints against former Inalsa officials
Despite the fact that in recent decades, the Ministry of Inalsa has been in the hands of the PIL for most of the time, Martín has also taken advantage of the press conference to attack the politicians who have been at the head of the public company, but he did not want to name them. "The history of Inalsa is intense and many of the people who today also hold public responsibilities, in some cases, without any shame, have played a leading role in it. In addition, they dare to launch destructive messages contrary to the interests of the Cabildo, Inalsa and against the interests of the 140,000 people who live in this land," Martín denounced.
The president of the PIL has assured that he is not going to talk about the past of Inalsa, despite the fact that this party could get "political profit if it did so". "These are absurd public fights between those of us who have had responsibilities on this island. We have to talk about the future," he said.
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[Dimas Martín was preparing the privatization of Inalsa->34688]
[Dimas Martín commissioned work for the Inalsa company to invoice it->36209]
