The former mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Patricia Hernández (PSOE), has shown her rejection of the position expressed by the government team of the capital of Tenerife (formed by the Canarian Coalition and the Popular Party with the support of a mayor who was a fugitive from Ciudadanos) during the Control Commission on the increase in the water bill and the return of the canon unduly charged by Sacyr when it was awarded the contract to manage the city’s water service.
The PSOE of Santa Cruz de Tenerife takes the increase in the water rate to the Control Commission to compensate Sacyr: “It is blackmailing the city”
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The origin of this case dates back to 2005, when, with Miguel Zerolo (CC) as mayor, the City Council privatized the Mixed Water Company of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Emmasa). The canon to take over the operation was 59 million euros. The multinational Sacyr was the one that won the contest. Once controlled by the new company, Emmasa approved to return the canon paid at a rate of 2.3 million euros per year. In other words, Santa Cruz would give the company the money that it paid to operate the water service and that was a condition to win the contract. In this way, the company recovered all its investment and the city lost money that belonged to it.
This came to light in the short period in which the City Council passed into the hands of Patricia Hernández (PSOE), who immediately paralyzed payments to Sacyr. Until then, the company had already unduly recovered 33.6 million euros of the 59 he invested.
Just a few weeks ago it transpired that the company has agreed with the City Council to start reimbursing that money, but that for this it imposes as a condition that the water rate be raised by more than 8%. And the City Council accepted.
This Thursday, the government team (CC and PP) assured that said agreement for the return of the canon and the increase in the water rate are matters that, although they are processed in parallel, are not related to each other. However, Patricia Hernández produced during the commission a copy of the agreement between Sacyr and Emmasa in which the company that operates the city’s water service “clearly expresses”, according to the PSOE, that in order to return the canon it imposes as a condition sine qua non the collection of a compensation of 4.5 million euros.
“Reading the document is clarifying. It does not seem like an agreement between Sacyr and Emmasa; It looks like an agreement between Sacyr and Sacyr because it exclusively looks after the interests of the multinational. Here the only loss is the citizenship of Santa Cruz and its patrimonial interest, which is Emmasa, ”argued the former mayor, under whose mandate the improper payments to Sacyr for the return of the canon were discovered and their paralysis was ordered and the procedures to demand its reimbursement in the municipal coffers.
During his speech, Hernández explained that Sacyr itself recognizes in the agreement between the company and Emmasa that “it will return” 3.3 million euros a year for the canon unduly charged for more than 15 years only if that payment is made. “It seems that you work for Sacyr and not for the citizens of Santa Cruz,” said the municipal leader.
Another point of rejection of the agreement was the collection of interest on the money “illegally stolen”, according to the PSOE. “The collection interest, according to this agreement between Sacyr and Sacyr, begins today, not when the loss of the municipal coffers began in 2006. Why do they give you 16 years of interest? What power does that company have over you? ”, Patricia Hernández has questioned.
The PSOE has stated that this is not the first time that Bermúdez and Sacyr have tried to link the water rate to inflation and that, if necessary, they have not ruled out going to the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) to obtain a new ruling. stop the climb.
