The government of Yaiza (UPY - CC) approved this Thursday the budget for this year, which amounts to 21.9 million euros, "municipal accounts that improve social care, employment and promote public works", as defended by the mayor and councilor of Economy and Finance, Óscar Noda. PP and Ciudadanos abstained in the vote while Lanzarote en Pie and PSOE voted against.
"Investment in infrastructure is important because, in addition to meeting needs, it generates work and stimulates the economy, but for the Yaiza government group, social services, sports and culture, among other areas, are also a priority. We withstood the blow of the pandemic and we want to revert the good economic health of the Administration to the citizens," Noda stressed. In addition, the City Council highlights that the technical report on the liquidation of the latest municipal accounts "demonstrates the budgetary stability of Yaiza with a zero level of indebtedness."
The mayor broke down the main axes of the budget starting with Social Welfare. "We are increasing the items allocated to emergency and welfare aid (270,000 euros), as well as study grants for those families that have a member training inside or outside the Island," he said. The granting of transport aid for students will be based on social criteria and its financial allocation will increase from 50,000 to 80,000 euros.
Regarding subsidies to social action groups, the City Council will contribute 10,000 euros more to the Creciendo Association, which serves children and young people with special educational needs. In total, there are 25,000 euros in subsidies, also endorsing the support for the Niños con Cáncer Pequeño Valiente Association.
"If the social emergency items were insufficient due to the increase in the vulnerability of the families of the municipality due to the effects of Covid-19, the City Council has the capacity to make credit transfers, as we recently did by unsubscribing items from other departments such as Festivities to reinforce social care, despite the forecasts of a decrease in income of 4.1 million, compared to 2020, due to the economic crisis that undoubtedly affects the collection of taxes," said Óscar Noda.
"To the municipal item of 270,000 for social aid, we add the contributions of the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands to add up to about 400,000 euros. During the year of the pandemic we have reached about 400 families in the municipality, attending to different needs," said the first deputy mayor and councilor of Social Services, Ángel Domínguez.
The government group of Yaiza also recalls that it has reinforced the team of professionals of Social Welfare by implementing new services such as the accompaniment of the elderly with a team of psychologists and values "enormously" the support that the Civil Protection Yaiza volunteers have offered and continue to provide during the pandemic. "We never tire of repeating that their work is priceless," said Óscar Noda.
Economic support for the operation of the nursery
In the Education - Social Services section, the City Council reserves 120,00 euros as a contribution to the management of the municipal nursery "to guarantee the provision of the service, preventing the exploitation tender from being declared void, since our objective is that they operate without waiting for any fee." The nursery, according to the mayor, has already passed the technical inspection of the Government of the Canary Islands and the City Council is only waiting for the permission of the Ministry of Education to put its management out to public tender. That "was the commitment of the Minister Manuela Armas to the mayor of Yaiza" according to the City Council.
In current expenses, the Administration increases by 12.94 percent for the new tenders for the cleaning service of all the schools in the municipality (253,000 euros) and the street cleaning of each of the population centers (1.1 million).
On the other hand, in employment, understood as one of the pillars that supports social welfare, Yaiza allocates 200,000 euros to sign employment plans with other administrations. "It is true that employment plans do not solve the problem and that any item is short, but they alleviate the situation of many families and our commitment to them is decisive," stressed the mayor.
"One way to promote employment is to encourage public investment, and since we have the power to do so, we have 17.5 million euros in treasury surpluses for investments with projects drafted and in execution. Adding the investments in works financed by the City Council and those co-financed with other institutions, we reach more than 50 million euros, a set of works that undoubtedly generate employment," he added.
In this same plenary session, the City Council incorporated 8.5 million euros to its treasury balance which, added to the 9 million of the past year, total the 17.5 million euros exposed by the mayor. "The investment chapter of the budget is zero because since 2018 we have been executing the projects with the treasury surpluses, and the works are palpable. We are one of the municipalities of Lanzarote that invests the most, if not the most," he pointed out.
Sports and Culture
The subsidy for the sports promotion program through schools of different disciplines remains at 120,000 euros, although with the novelty that Yaiza adds this year two more subsidy pools, one of 12,000 euros for sports rooted in the land such as Latin sailing, which returns with official competition to Playa Blanca in April, and another of 10,000 euros for individual athletes.
The municipality, "if the pandemic allows it", will also host this year the Ironman 70.3 and the K10 Bestial Race, sports events of "positive economic and tourist impact".
With regard to tourism, the City Council has just paid 140,000 euros to the Lanzarote Foreign Promotion Society and is also working on common purposes with the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands (AMTC), to which it assigns a newly created item of 12,000 euros.
Culture "is also a pillar that enriches the citizen, but also generates economy" and Yaiza relaunches its calendar of cultural events, apart from the activity that takes place in the cultural centers of the municipality.
Claims competences to be able to help commerce and the primary sector
Óscar Noda, who is also an active member of the Economy and Finance Commission of the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (FECAM), has recalled that through it they have asked the Government of Spain that the town councils that have financial capacity and are "in a proven situation of budgetary stability as is the case of Yaiza", be allowed to use "at least a part of the treasury balance to invest in sectors that are very punished such as local commerce or the primary sector". "Yes, granting us the proper competences," said the mayor.
"We would like to help directly with subsidies, for example, the self-employed, the camel sector or the Fishermen's Association of Playa Blanca, but although we have economic capacity, we lack competences. We will continue to defend the assumption of competences and in the meantime we maintain the punctual payment to suppliers, with an average payment period of only 10 days, which is also helping small and medium-sized companies. We have already transferred to the Island Council that if we have to sacrifice money that corresponds to Yaiza charged to the Municipal Cooperation Plan for works, we gladly do so as long as they guarantee that this money is used for direct subsidies to self-employed workers or workers in the primary sector of Yaiza," concluded the mayor of Yaiza.
