The PSOE denounced this Tuesday during the celebration of the extraordinary plenary session requested by the opposition, that the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, and the councilor responsible for the Social Welfare area, Marciano Acuña, "concealed crucial information about the situation in Amavir's elderly care homes and did not adopt any measures despite knowing the consequences that were already occurring in the residents".
The PSOE of Lanzarote has also lamented the “farce” experienced during the plenary session, where, "neither the President nor the councilor wanted to respond directly to the questions asked, shielding themselves behind an official whom they tasked with giving explanations in their place". “It is unacceptable that those who have political responsibility hide behind technical staff to avoid facing up. Today we have seen how, given the seriousness of the facts, they have opted for cowardice, they have shirked their responsibilities by delegating the answers they were supposed to assume,” González pointed out.
During the plenary session, the Socialist Group councilor, Ariagona González, was blunt in describing the attitude of the governing group: “What we have seen today is a president who hides and a councilor who, instead of assuming an unacceptable situation, has preferred to discredit the Socialist Party to cover up the reality.”
González was especially harsh when referring to the Cabildo's reaction to the complaints: “If, in the face of inhumane, aberrant, cruel, and ruthless treatment of our elders, the response is to blame the one who reports it, we are facing a government that has lost all moral reference, all principle, and all sense of public responsibility.”
The socialist councilor made it clear that "the Cabildo not only knew the situation, but also had official reports since February that expressly warned of the deterioration of care in the centers."
During her intervention, she reproduced one of the "most harrowing" fragments of the supervision reports, which clearly describe the consequences that residents were already suffering: “Lack of personal and dental hygiene, recurrent falls due to lack of supervision, generation of pressure ulcers, urinary infections due to not performing necessary diaper changes, feelings of loneliness, errors in medication administration and a low quality of care due to staff overload and exhaustion”.
For the PSOE, this content "dismantles any attempt to minimize what happened and evidences that the situation was known, serious, and sustained over time".
“We are talking about technical reports that even warned of the risk of serious negligence. It's not that they didn't know what was happening, it's that they knew and did absolutely nothing,” González stressed.
The socialists consider "especially serious that, while these warnings were in writing, the governing group chose to deny reality and accuse the PSOE of alarmism".
“They tried to cover it up, discredit us, and buy time while the situation continued to deteriorate. That is what has become evident today. And what is worse, after accessing the information contained in the file, the situation is more serious than what the PSOE initially defined,” he added.
The PSOE recalls that it has been the pressure from public complaints, from workers, family members and unions like CCOO, along with the images that have generated deep social alarm, and the opposition's request "that which has forced the appearance of the president in this extraordinary plenary session".
“If it is not reported and explanations are not forced, this would have continued happening in silence. And that is the most serious thing of all,” insisted González.
The Socialist Group has warned that what was known this Thursday "opens new lines that will have to be analyzed in depth". "We are talking about elderly people who have suffered direct consequences due to the lack of means and management. And in the face of that, there are no excuses. We are going to go until the end," he concluded.