The mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, agrees with and supports a Socioeconomic Revitalization Plan for the Island, but understands that this document should be drafted with all seven municipalities of Lanzarote in mind, and not just the tourist ones. Machín confessed on the radio program Buenos Días Lanzarote that he was annoyed at the meeting the mayors had with the Minister of Finance of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Carlos Mauricio, last Friday because they insisted at all times on investments for the tourist centers and, according to the mayor of Tinajo, municipalities like his were not mentioned at all.
Machín expressed his anger at the twists and turns of the project for a fishing shelter for La Santa. The Cabildo and the Central and Canary Islands governments have said that it is not their responsibility, which is why the mayor asks: "Are the sailors then the ones who have to do the project?".
The mayor revealed that the Lanzarote Infrastructure Plan has not been implemented for the simple reason that the agreements could not be signed because the Cabildo does not have the 25 percent that it must contribute to develop the Plan. The formula that Machín proposes to all the town councils to carry out the works is that the Canarian Government delivers the 50 percent that corresponds to it between this year and next year, the councils that put their 25 percent the following year and the Cabildo, "which is the poorest of all", that contributes the remaining 25 percent in 2007.
Machín is tired of the fact that projects cannot be executed due to lack of money or lack of permits or a thousand and one reasons. Tinajo, for example, cannot legalize more than 100 businesses within the municipal area because the municipality does not have an industrial zone or a service area. "Hopefully Tinajo will receive at least one peseta," he commented.
Jesús Machín remains firm in his idea of creating a market to favor the farmers, ranchers, artisans and pastry chefs of the municipality. Tinajo will support the initiative of Historical Heritage so that the construction of a Canarian House adapted to the environment is included in the Lanzarote Revitalization Plan, where the market can be accommodated. However, the mayor said he was tired of so many promises and so few achievements. "The Central Government, the Government of the Canary Islands and sometimes the Cabildo come to take the photo and nothing else," he said. Curiously, the president of the First Island Corporation and the senator for Lanzarote are precisely from the municipality in question.
No clarity with La Isleta
The mayor of Tinajo has in his possession a report from the legal services of the Ministry of Territorial Policy that explains the rights that La Caja de Canarias has over La Isleta, however, the mayor has asked the president of the Cabildo that the technicians of the Island Territorial Planning Plan (PIOT) translate the content of said report.
Machín was last Saturday in La Santa meeting with representatives of a platform that the residents have created in defense of La Isleta to prevent construction there. "As long as it is to defend La Isleta and the rights of the people, it will have the support of the City Council," said Machín, who trusts that the association will ensure the interests of citizens and not that it has been created for political purposes.
The controversy over who owns the land remains. The company Promociones y Proyecciones Ultramar assures that they are the owners of La Isleta and not La Cja de Ahorros, although they still lack the deeds. "We have a year to get them and we hope to do so before that deadline expires," said Arturo Fernández, one of the owners of the company.
Meanwhile, the position of the Tinajo City Council is firm. It refuses to allow any construction to be carried out in the area. In this sense, the mayor of the town assured that the owners "have become angry because we have not given in". For this reason, the company requested the documentation on the islet from the mayor, which he refused to give. Given the situation, Promociones y Proyectos Ultramar made the request through judicial channels. "The secretary has made a report for me saying that, being an interested party, the law obliges me to give that documentation, and we will give it to them but at the rate that we deem convenient so that it does not hinder our work in the City Council," noted Jesús Machín, who has also asked to speak with the Caja Insular de Ahorros de Canarias as he considers them the true owners.