The Cabildo of Lanzarote held the second Mayors' Roundtable of the island in the municipality of Yaiza, "thus fulfilling the commitment to hold this type of meeting every two months, after the one held in January in Haría."
“I am very grateful to the mayor of Yaiza for his willingness to hold this new table here in the south of the island, where there are many projects to improve the lives of the residents of the island,” said the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort.
Among the issues on the agenda, the problem of housing on the island was addressed and a commitment was acquired by the seven mayors, at the proposal of the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, that the City Councils will facilitate the relationship of the municipal land that is categorized in units of action for the construction of protected housing.
“The decree of urgent measures regarding housing, approved by the Parliament of the Canary Islands, considerably speeds up the deadlines when the city councils make the land available under these conditions. My commitment is to transfer this information to the Government of the Canary Islands so that, with the new housing regulations, new promotions of houses for Lanzarote residents can be launched as soon as possible at affordable prices for both rent and purchase,” said the president of the Cabildo.
One of the first points discussed at the meeting was the progress of the public works that are being carried out. In this sense, the vice president and head of Public Works, Jacobo Medina, stated that the Corporation “is making historic efforts to finance projects that improve infrastructure and island roads.”
“Through the FDCAN funds, the Next Generation Funds and adhering to the 2030 Agenda, we will finance and execute numerous works in all the municipalities of the island, as well as in La Graciosa,” explained Medina, who also announced the increase in the amounts allocated to the Municipal Cooperation Plans in order to “continue with the plan to reactivate the island's economy through public works.”
More than 13 million in Municipal Cooperation funds
The 2024 Municipal Cooperation Plan amounts to a total of 13,686,811 million euros, three million more than in the 2023 financial year for the works projects presented by the different municipal corporations.
Similarly, the agreement reached this morning in the Governing Council to allocate another 5 million euros for this year, from the Canary Islands Development Funds, FDCAN, for works in the 7 municipalities was reported.
On the other hand, the counselor of the Tourist Centers, Ángel Vázquez, announced the proposal of the EPEL, the public company that manages the centers, to increase the fee that the city councils receive for tickets. In this sense, an increase of 20 cents per ticket is proposed, from 0.60 to 0.80 cents, which corresponds to the 33 percent average increase that the tickets to the Tourist Centers have had.
The president of the Cabildo also made a commitment to the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, that the island corporation will study the proposal made from that municipality for the signing of an agreement between both administrations that, like the one signed at the time with Haría, takes into account that the ownership of part of the land where the Timanfaya National Park is located is municipal.
On the other hand, fundamental and key issues for Lanzarote and La Graciosa were also discussed, such as the situation of the road margins -which the vice president explained the agreement reached with the company and which was presented at a press conference- or the need for an island agreement on Animal Welfare that defends and guarantees the safety and well-being of animals, an initiative of the counselor Aroa Revelo.
The president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, also stressed the need to reach an island agreement on signage and chromatism on facades, a proposal from the Department of the Environment led by Samuel Martín. “We have to place special emphasis on recovering our identity and thus demonstrate what the identity of Lanzarote is,” he explained.
Regarding Social Welfare, the counselor of the area, Marci Acuña, took the floor and explained the situation that exists in the La Santa shelter. “We cannot support macro-centers on this island, or mass centers, because in that way we cannot attend to the minors who arrive on our island with dignity,” he explained.
In addition, the approach that the Cabildo of Lanzarote has made to the deaf community was also explained. “We have started a program so that, through a computer program, deaf people can go to an office of the island Corporation without the need for an interpreter,” he explained.
The opportunity was also taken to explain to the mayors, by the counselor of Territorial Policy Jesús Machín Tavío, the draft of the Special Plan of La Geria that was presented last Tuesday at the Farmer's Monument, as well as the exhibition made by the counselor of Historical Heritage, Ascensión Toledo, on the situation of the Municipal Heritage Catalogs.
