The Arrecife City Council today held the last debate on the state of the municipality of this legislature and I have to recognize, taking stock of these last 4 years, that I have a feeling of joy and sadness at the same time.
Of joy because fortunately there is very little time left, barely 5 months, for the PSOE and the left to stop governing in this municipality. Joy and hope because 35 years of socialist government are coming to an end, which have only managed to bring the city of Arrecife to ruin.
In 5 months, neither their communist friends from Podemos and Somos nor their friends from Ciudadanos who have kept the PSOE in the government of the capital will be able to continue doing so because the residents of Arrecife are unanimously calling for an end to 35 years of socialist and left-wing governments.
And on the other hand, along with this feeling of joy, I also recognize having a feeling of sadness and desolation when I see how another four valuable years have been lost in this municipality. 35 years of neglect, but especially these last four years, in which the left has not only not worked to improve the quality of life and well-being of the residents, but what they have done is harm the residents, impoverishing them to unimaginable levels.
Shameful examples of this reality can be found in the Argana Alta Health Center. In 2017 and 2018, as a deputy, I presented an amendment to the Budget of the Government of the Canary Islands for the construction of the much-needed health center, which would undoubtedly improve the healthcare level of the residents of one of the most populous neighborhoods in the capital.
As you can imagine, it was not easy to get that money, but with perseverance, struggle and work, the PP managed to bring that investment to Arrecife at the expense of the city council carrying out a simple procedure such as the transfer of land to the Government of the Canary Islands.
But our joy was short-lived! Arrecife lost that money for 2 consecutive years because the PSOE government did not fulfill its mission, with the consequent damage to all residents. It is unforgivable that in a neighborhood inhabited by needy and vulnerable people, with few economic resources, the socialist government abandoned them.
And the PSOE neither resigned nor apologized to the Argana Alta neighborhood. That PSOE that tears its clothes in the electoral campaigns talking about helping the most needy and the most disadvantaged and that has been the protagonist and responsible for the serious setback that social policies have experienced in the municipality. First, because for almost half a year the residents of Argana have been without social coverage and then because of their devastating performance in housing matters in another of the most turbulent chapters of socialist incapacity in these years.
Once again, the Canary Islands Government allocated funds for Arrecife in the 2018 Budgets: 3.4 million euros to start the construction of 400 social houses in the Maneje area. On this occasion, we have lost the 3.4 million euros for this year because the Arrecife City Council did not comply with the procedure either, and this despite the extreme need for social housing that exists in the city, the third capital of the Canary Islands.
Simply indecent! And more than enough reason for them to have already resigned. But not only did they not do so, but they lied to the citizens saying that the land had already been transferred when it was not.
It is impossible to take stock of these four years and find something that the PSOE has done well.
They have the General Plan hidden in a drawer and, in order not to do anything, the Territory Board is not convened nor is it taken to plenary for its initial approval and to be able to present allegations. It is regrettable that after 35 years of socialist governments, the PSOE says that they are not clear about the city model they want. Sincerity that honors them and to the same extent incapacitates them to lead and set the pace of the city.
The neighborhoods, those "spaces of coexistence and quality of life" (phrase used by Eva de Anta in her inauguration), are abandoned: no paving plan, no cared for playgrounds, no lighting, no good public transport connections due to the suppression of lines and buses out of service. On the other hand, the city council has not made the project that allows investing the more than one million euros that the Spanish government of the PP allocated in the General State Budgets for the adaptation of the Tinasoria neighborhood.
It should also be a shame for them for not having lifted a finger in favor of the Urban Rehabilitation Areas of Valterra and Titerroy (ARUS). We are already going for 10 years and not only has a stone not been moved, but they have stopped paying the rents for more than a year to the people evicted from their homes. And in the face of this socialist disaster, it has had to be the Popular Party in the Island Council, which through the area of Social Welfare is going to pay the rents that the Arrecife City Council does not pay.
...And the PSOE and the left have not only not resigned but have laughed in the face of the most needy and vulnerable people. And that is so due to incompetence, not because the Arrecife City Council does not have economic resources, which it does. Last year, 16.9 million euros were not invested from a budget of 49 million. Of the money that was not invested, 2 million correspond to Social Services. And while this happens, spending on Festivities shoots up by 32%.
During this term we have witnessed a historic stoppage of grassroots sport due to non-payment, protests from cultural groups, demonstrations by staff, citizens for the opening of the avenue or merchants for the lack of support and measures to boost the sector. The PSOE's grievances to the residents of Arrecife do not fit in this article and the residents know them inside out because they live and suffer them daily.
The only satisfaction we have left is knowing that within five months the course of Arrecife can and will change. In the Popular Party we are willing to face the challenge of building a present and laying the foundations for the future of this city. We have shown that we have the courage and determination to lead the change that is needed and that we all deserve.
*Astrid Pérez, president of the PP of Lanzarote and councilor in Arrecife
