SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 18 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Gustavo Matos, has highlighted, one year after the start of the volcanic eruption in La Palma, the “enormous example of coordination and unity” that the island has given in these twelve months and, also, the “unlimited solidarity” that the Canarian people have also shown in the reconstruction process, “a solidarity that has been a characteristic feature of our land in these 40 years of self-government”.
Gustavo Matos stressed that from the first day, “all the institutions were clear that the priority was to guarantee the safety of people in the face of an uncontrollable phenomenon and, from there, try to minimize its consequences on housing, material goods, infrastructure or cultivation areas.
He valued the “tireless work” of institutions, affected people and groups, “who have formed a single team”, and conveyed from the Chamber the gratitude of Canarian society to the State security forces and bodies, the Canarian Police, local police, emergency coordination teams, people who have remained in charge of the control and security system, professionals in the scientific field, all those people who remained on the front line “and, also, those many others whose discreet work has been equally decisive”.
Matos pointed out that in those first weeks of special intensity of the phenomenon, the technological boost given to Parliament during the pandemic and the adaptation of the Regulation were key to not stopping the activity and guaranteeing the participation, intervention and vote of all the deputies, also those of the island of La Palma “when in a particularly difficult time they wanted to convey the voice of the palm society throughout the Canary Islands”.
Remember that a week after the start of the eruption, Parliament approved a first donation worth 200,000 euros, by agreement of the Bureau and Board of Spokespersons, to help the affected people. A few weeks later, a formal meeting of the Table was held in La Palma, with various meetings with the different groups of people affected and with the institutions to learn first-hand about the situation.
At that meeting, it was agreed to create a parliamentary study commission on the reconstruction of the island, whose constitution was approved unanimously in plenary session and which began its work in February of this year. Another important agreement adopted at that meeting of the Table in La Palma was the increase in the donation to reach half a million euros.
The president indicated that in these twelve months, parliamentary activity has been very focused on the volcano crisis. “Since the beginning of the eruption until now, the situation of La Palma has been permanently transferred by the deputies of the island, by the people appearing in commission and by the Government”.
In this sense, he pointed out that during this year a hundred initiatives have been registered on La Palma, both related to the urgency in the months of eruption and to the hard reconstruction process that the island faces in all areas. Of these, half correspond to appearances by the Government and seven of them have been decree laws of the Government with which to articulate aid measures to alleviate the difficult situation that the island is going through.
“In this regard, it is necessary to highlight the willingness of the seven political groups to dialogue in a Parliament that is the national leader in consensus and agreement and that sees this tenth legislature consolidated as the one with the greatest activity, with an increase of more than 30 percent” , he underlined.
Gustavo Matos recalls that, hand in hand with the Armed Forces, our Parliament is currently hosting the exhibition ‘Operation Cumbre Vieja’, which is intended to be a recognition of the coordination work carried out during the three months of eruption by institutions, entities and palm society, “which has given a whole lesson in responsibility, maturity and integrity”.
The president remarked that the Parliament wants to highlight the “strength of all the citizens of the island, especially the courage of the boys and girls of La Palma, who have been facing every adversity with an admirable attitude”. “One year after the beginning of the eruption, the Parliament of the Canary Islands renews all its support and affection for La Palma. Today, like a year ago, all of the Canary Islands is La Palma,” he said.
