The plenary session of the debate on the island brings forward, with three abstentions, a proposal so that pacts are not signed with the extreme right
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 4 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín (PSOE), said this Wednesday that the island is “better” than three years ago, when he agreed to the island government, while defending a leadership opposed to that of the former president, Carlos Alonso ( CC), current spokesperson for the Nationalist Group.
“I don’t want leadership like yours”, he commented in the ‘Debate on the General Orientation of Island Policy’ in which he defended his work to “strengthen” tourism, achieve a “more sustainable” island, be at the side of the primary sector or increase scholarships for students.
Faced with this situation, he has criticized the time of government of Carlos Alonso, who took a stand against the problems of social services, distributed employment funds to “related” municipalities or left many road projects unplanned, “only with ideas or infographics.
Martín, who has made a long review of his government’s management, has criticized the “tacticism” of the nationalists to try to “wear down” the Executive and their attempts to generate “hoaxes” and fake news.
Thus, he has supported his speech that Tenerife is better in that unemployment presents the best data since 2009, with a rate of 19.9% at the end of the first quarter, almost one point less than in Gran Canaria, as is the case with youth unemployment, which “is dramatic, almost 50%, but much lower” than that of the other capital island.
He also said that there are 27,102 companies registered on the island, some 3,500 more than in Gran Canaria.
Faced with criticism from the opposition about an alleged submission to the Government of the Canary Islands, he has commented that he has “confronted” through the Fecai to achieve issues that had been stuck for “years” such as the recognition of spending on road maintenance, the payment of 21 .9 million to update the transfers to the councils and the return of 100% of the excess charged by the Canary Islands Tax Agency for the costs of managing REF resources.
The president of Tenerife has also valued the reorganization of public companies, in the case of ITER, since many were “oversized” and did not comply with the law of public contracts, the beginning of the process of stabilizing the workforce of the Cabildo and the coordination with the municipalities to undertake projects such as the cooperation plan, the cybersecurity plan or the social tourism campaign.
He has denied being a “crutch” of Sí Podemos since both formations have “different approaches” regarding gas, the port of Fonsalía or the roads, while in the case of the southern train he has assured that “it is not a matter of maintaining an armchair but to be consistent.
THE PRESIDENT OPPOSES THE SOUTH TRAIN
Thus, he has commented that he thinks the same as when he was mayor of Guía de Isora given that it is a project of some 2,500 million “and it is not known how much the EU or the Cabildo put in” and wonders if the institution can “embark on a adventure that is not going to fix mobility problems.
Martín has made Alonso ugly when he questions that he closes the office before three in the afternoon when “he has a salary from the Cabildo and another in the afternoon, even traveling between islands” and has highlighted that two court rulings have endorsed the closure of the Ansina program.
Likewise, he has valued the deployment of 46 million in aid to SMEs, the self-employed and companies to sustain employment and avoid closures and advanced that this year will close with a record of budget execution and without resorting to “shortcuts” or “irregular procedures”, as was the case with the previous government.
Alonso (CC-PNC) has pointed out that Tenerife “is poorer” than three years ago, a fact that he ironically blamed “Covid and the Canary Coalition”, blaming the current government for not solving problems when it has “more resources than ever” and there are no tax limitations.
He has branded the Executive of Martín as “mediocre” because he cannot get the money to reach all layers of society and has accused him of committing a “scoundrel” with the dismantling of Ansina, also abandoning the older ones and with an increase in dependent waiting list. “The social is the ground zero of the Government”, he has detailed.
He has also said that traffic queues “are greater” and that Sí Podemos and PSOE “slow down” large projects, in the case of the southern train, and in a context in which they have become accustomed to “losing votes.”
For Alonso, the president does not have “social leadership” nor does he arouse great consensus, he only practices “sectarianism, hatred and frontism”, something that resembles the extreme right and “Leninist” policies.
Marian Franquet, spokesperson for the PSOE, has defended that the Socialists have brought to the corporation “a new way of doing things” based on “dialogue and rigour”, giving as an example that infrastructure projects have been unblocked that were “computer graphics “from the time of DC.
He has also defended the work of “reorganization” of the insular public sector, the new waste management contract, the recovery of tourism or the increase in cooperation with the municipalities and in coordination with Fecam.
Zaida González, spokesperson for the Popular Group, has commented that the island government “has not been up to the task” in the face of the crisis and “kidnapped” by Sí Podemos, “putting under the rug” the large projects that Tenerife needs.
MARTÍN PRESIDES THE “GOVERNMENT OF EXCUSES”, ACCORDING TO THE PP
He has commented that it is “the Government of excuses”, also characterized by “distance, lack of leadership, passivity and sectarianism” and has extended his hand to Martín so that he can count on the PP to carry out strategic initiatives.
Along these lines, he has pointed out that the Government practices “confrontation” between municipalities by distributing subsidies “by finger” and has lamented that they “failed” SMEs and the self-employed during the pandemic by delaying aid.
YES WE CAN REGRET RAISING ARRIAGA TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY
María José Belda, spokesperson for Sí Podemos, has confessed that her group regrets having given Enrique Arriaga “an armchair” in the Government because it has a discourse close to that of the “extreme right” although they will continue to help carry progressive policies from the opposition.
He has accused the Government of not promoting natural purification and “letting ITER die” when “it should be the jewel of the Cabildo” in the face of tourism that is a hen of “rotten eggs” due to its consumption of resources and territory and job insecurity.
The vice president of the Cabildo and spokesman for Ciudadanos (Cs), Enrique Arriaga, has pointed out that when they came to power they found an island “paralyzed and with no idea of progress” and the idea has been to put an end to “immobility and not to everything” .
To do this, he has defended the simplification of the bureaucracy and the reduction of taxes, while he has lamented that the CC and the PP only want to “block” government action when, in the face of the looming economic crisis, joint work is needed and leave behind ” political colors.
In the debate on resolution proposals, more than 40 came forward, among which one from the PSOE stands out, supported by 27 votes –with three abstentions– in which it is requested not to agree on the island with the extreme right and another from the Nationalist Group with a plan to end poverty.
In addition, a CC-PNC has gone ahead for the development of trains on the island and Sí Podemos has been left alone in its refusal to implement regasification plants.
