Amidst a scenario of business closures, layoffs, and delays in salary payments, the Red Cross has not been spared from the crisis either. In fact, the NGO's workers have been having trouble getting paid for months...
Amidst a scenario of business closures, layoffs, and delays in salary payments, the Red Cross has not been spared from the crisis either. In fact, the NGO's workers have been having trouble getting paid their salaries for months, and they have decided to make it public. But the institution's response is even more worrying. And this has revealed that several city councils, but especially those of Yaiza and Tías, have significant debts with the entity.
In the case of the southern municipality, the debt dates back no less than five years, when José Francisco Reyes governed. It has been one more of the surprises that the new Corporation has encountered, which is now trying to cover up this new inexplicable hole. And it is that while the former mayor granted licenses left and right, with the consequent income of money in taxes and fees that it theoretically entails, and while he defended the bonanza that was reaching Playa Blanca, he did not even allocate money to pay the contract he had contracted with this NGO, for something as basic and essential as surveillance on the beaches. And according to the Red Cross, the debt exceeds 500,000 euros.
In the case of Tías, the debt is more recent, although not negligible. About 147,000 euros are what the NGO claims, apparently corresponding to last year. In short, more of the same. And it is that the economic crisis, to which some are now clinging so much to avoid facing their commitments, does not justify accumulating a debt of that caliber.
The problem is that for years, and despite the fact that Lanzarote was living its sweet years, the city councils became accustomed to indebting themselves. To not paying suppliers, to leaving pending invoices, to delaying payments... To pay for today with yesterday's money, and tomorrow's with what comes in three days. And now, when the cows are no longer fat, the spiral is exploding in their hands, because not enough money is coming in to pay for yesterday.
Therefore, what is truly incredible is how this situation has been reached. How a city council with resources, from an important tourist municipality, in the middle of a bonanza stage, failed to prepare to reach this stage of crisis with a moderately healthy economy. And it is also not understood how you can stop paying an NGO hired to provide a vital service for the residents and for the tourists who contribute to maintaining the island's economy.
But as if all this were not enough, the statements that the mayor of Tías has made on the subject only further cloud the situation. And when asked on the program La Destiladera, from Radio Lanzarote, about the organization's complaints about the delay in payments, his response was that "possibly the solution is to put the service out to tender." That is, far from assuming responsibility for this debt, and showing his concern about the possibility that the Red Cross may decide to leave the municipality, he launched an ultimatum, anticipating and warning that perhaps he will be the one to withdraw the concession. In his words, "the contracts have expired and we will see in what terms we renew them, or if we renew them or not."
Of course, no one takes away the right of the mayor of Tías or any municipality on the island to seek the service that they consider most convenient to monitor their beaches. It is not even about affirming that the Red Cross is unbeatable. Even, it can also be questioned that the organization has allowed this situation to extend, causing its workers to be harmed. But what a city council cannot do, nor anyone who is not up to date with their payments, is respond by saying that they will then hire someone else. On some occasions, it is necessary to lower your head and apologize or ask for patience. Because if the problem is that you don't like the Red Cross service, or if you consider it too expensive, it has taken you too long to realize it.
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