The PSOE requests in Madrid the dismissal of the manager of Canal Gestión Lanzarote

PSOE deputy Pedro Santín requested in the Assembly of Madrid the dismissal of Gerardo Díaz, current managing director of Canal Gestión Lanzarote and charged in Operation Tosca for his management at the head of Hispanagua, a subsidiary of Canal de Isabel II in Melilla. As reported by the newspaper La Provincia, Santín raised a question to the Assembly about the situation of Canal Gestión Lanzarote after its manager was arrested in the framework of this operation on February 18.

Adrián Martín López de las Huertas, general director of the parent company Canal de Isabel II, responded to Santín's question in the corresponding commission. "The situation in which Canal Gestión finds itself is frankly positive," said López de las Huertas, who also reiterated that Díaz will continue to head the island's water company. The general director assured that Canal Gestión Lanzarote is experiencing "a growing improvement in all the parameters of its management," citing the "yields and efficiency of water production."

López de Huertas referred to the fact that last year "there has been the circumstance, unknown on the island, of having spent a full year without a cut in supply due to lack of resources." He also echoed the satisfaction survey that Canal Gestión carried out among its subscribers, who give it a rating of 6.4 out of 10. "In view of the data I am presenting to you, I can affirm that the business evolution of Canal Gestión is very satisfactory," he said.

However, for Santín, it is "absolutely intolerable" that Gerardo Díaz "is still the manager of Canal Gestión today." "I do not presume any guilt on Mr. Díaz García, but nobody understands that he can continue to be the manager of the company Canal Gestión Lanzarote until all the charges against him are clarified due to his involvement in Operation Tosca," the deputy replied to the general director of the water company.

Doubts about his suitability

The PSOE deputy asserted about Díaz's indictment that "this makes the citizens of Lanzarote have many doubts and many suspicions about the suitability of Mr. Díaz García as manager of Canal Gestión Lanzarote. And the doubts and suspicions are, in this case, absolutely founded, because Mr. Díaz's service record at the head of Hispanagua is plagued with murky cases and irregularities, which are not precisely the best guarantee that the same outrages will not be committed now in Lanzarote."

"For the people of Lanzarote, the distrust is even greater, if possible, because of the way in which the Canal de Isabel II acquired the water supply contract on the island," the deputy pointed out. Santín referred to the fact that the awarding of the water management on the island "generated enormous controversy at the time, and not only in Lanzarote, but also in the Community of Madrid; because nobody understood that 106 million euros were paid to manage the water of Lanzarote, a price that was clearly exorbitant."

Santín continued his speech, addressing directly the general director of the Canal de Isabel II, about the acquisition by Canal Gestión of the water management on the island. "You can talk to me about the management, about the good management that is being done, but you will understand that the result of that operation of 106 million euros is, in economic terms, a very risky operation that we criticize because we did not see the business perspective as such; moreover, we believe that it is a ruinous operation, unless you raise water rates in Lanzarote, which has a more than considerable social cost, and if we do not resort to that it will be very difficult to recover the money invested," the deputy argued.

"Double responsibility" of the Canal de Isabel II

After presenting these arguments, Pedro Santín concluded by asking for the removal of Gerardo Díaz. "It is a double responsibility: on the one hand, for keeping Mr. Díaz as managing director of Canal Gestión after his arrest in Operation Tosca and, on the other hand, for all the background of his management at the head of Hispanagua," he said.

"How can Mr. Díaz continue to be given management responsibility? Can you explain this to us? You will have to do something and the Canal de Isabel II will have to do something. I assure you that if you do not dismiss Mr. Díaz, then you are to blame for the situation," the socialist reproached López de las Huertas.

However, the general director of the Canal de Isabel II replied defending the work of the manager of Canal Gestión and quoting the words of the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, who recently stated that Gerardo Díaz "enjoys all the credit and confidence of the management of his company" and of his "personal" one. "I'll tell you one more thing, you, the PSOE, supported the Government of Lanzarote until last week and when we arrived there was no controversy. We won a tender and in it we have made a business plan," argued López de las Huertas.