The PSOE councilor of Tinajo, Begoña Hernandez, has revealed that the City Council "foresees a significant credit of 730,000 euros to pay a sentence" in which it has been condemned. Specifically, according to the councilor in Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, it is a lawsuit with the previous concessionaire of the garbage collection service, Camilo Álvarez, who sued the City Council in 2013, after it terminated the contract alleging "permanent breaches" by the company.
"We did not know about the sentence until we got this surprise of increased public debt," said the councilor, who stated that it was in an informative commission prior to the plenary session for the approval of the 2020 budget that was held this Wednesday, when they became aware of said conviction.
However, Hernández has said that she is still waiting to have access to the content of that sentence. "We have requested in that commission that it be provided to us so that we can assess it and to this day it has not been sent to us," she indicated. In any case, the PSOE councilor considers it "intolerable" and a "laughing stock" that the Tinajo City Council "is once again in debt" and "over a garbage issue," given the problems they continue to have with this service.
Accounts approved "after the fact" with expenses that are "not understood"
On the other hand, the councilor has criticized that the government group of Tinajo has now taken the budgets of last year to plenary sessions. "Let us remember that Tinajo is a municipality that has an absolute majority, so we do not understand why year after year they do not get their budgets out in a timely manner. I think it is negligence and little intention," said Begoña Hernández, who also believes that this is intended to "restrict the participation" of the opposition.
In fact, the PSOE has not presented any amendments to the accounts, because it understands that it is "not useful at all" as it is a budget "after the fact" and that it is already "closed." "It is a budget where the income that has been received has been received and what has been spent has been spent, so it makes little sense," she said
However, she has drawn attention to some items included in the accounts, such as the fact that "in 2020, 100,000 euros have been invested in parties, when no party has taken place." "For example, in the La Santa festival it puts an expense of 12,000 euros and in the Christmas festival about 60,000," said Begoña Hernández, who also considers that "they are intolerable expenses in the time we are in."
"You can spend on lights, but if you compare it with other years, that the budget increases so much seems a bit striking, because I think that the priority at this time and in 2020 is where it has to be, in the attention of social services, helping and taking out aid for those families who are having the worst time in this crisis. I think that with Christmas lights no family eats and priorities are priorities," she added.
The councilor has also criticized that the money destined "to the governing body, which is nothing more than the councilors who form the government group, has increased by 3,000 euros." "If we think that they issued a decree and a big news that they were lowering their salary, there are certainly things that are not understood," she said.
In this sense, she also pointed to the fact that the mayor recently said "that he was going to pay for those burials of people who died from Covid in the municipality," when in the 2020 budget "the item for cemeteries and funeral services has been reduced by 9,000 euros." "Of 10,000 euros that they had in 2019, the item for funeral services is reduced to 1,000 euros, so we do not know where that money is going to come from," she indicated. And it is that, until the 2021 budgets are approved, the City Council will have to work with the extended 2020 accounts.
Finally, the PSOE councilor in Tinajo has also drawn attention to the fact that sports subsidies "decrease by 50%" by "allocating 45,000 euros." "A fairly significant amount, but we can say little because it is what has already been allocated. It does not make sense for us to say that the item should be changed, because it is a real expense that has already occurred," said Begoña Hernández in this regard, who nevertheless hopes that "as soon as possible" the government group will present the 2021 budgets "and there yes, have the participation of the opposition."
