He PSOE proposes measures to improve, recover and intervene in the forest damaged by the forest fire that began on August 15 and is not yet extinguished. The investment amounts to 21,264,000 euros that the Cabildo “has the economic capacity” to undertake through a multi-year plan until 2025. This is supported by the spokesperson for the Socialist Group, Pedro Martinwho This initiative contrasts with the proposal that the island Government will present to the plenary session next week, which it accuses of trying to eliminate items from the current budget for more than three million euros that would contribute to helping those affected by the fire.
The government group proposes an initiative “lacking measures to recover the large forest mass and the tremendous deterioration that our flora and fauna has suffered”, to which Pedro Martín announces a plan with ten measures. It includes the immediate payment of aid for livestock feeding, for 2,500,000 euros, and complementary aid for bee feeding, for 140,000 euros. «It’s time. If it was necessary before the fire, it is even more so now, with the aggravating factor that they are matters that were processed by the government that he presided over until July.
The PSOE requests extraordinary aid to replace the infrastructure of this subsector (it assures that two thirds were lost) and compensate for the losses. For this, it proposes 1,764,000 euros. In the case of the cattle raisingdemands an investment of 500,000 euros, in addition to promoting, through the Forage Plan Tenerifeforest management in agricultural and livestock farms for the sustainable use of forest resources.
The socialist spokesperson in the insular Corporation urgently demands from the Cabildo a line of 19,000,000 euros for immediate intervention in the restoration of the areas, the creation of fajinadas, the containment through slopes, the cleaning and preparation of the lands, the recovery of trails and tracks, a comprehensive recovery plan for the affected mountains, their reforestation and the rest of the tasks necessary for this, including the use of drones for the dispersion of the species that are relevant in each of the affected spaces.
Along with these measures, Martín Domínguez proposes the extraordinary and urgent convening of the Insular Animal Welfare Council, where the proposals of the insular Government and the mandatory application of the Animal Welfare Law will be taken into consideration.
CC-PP measures
This “delay and inaction” worries the PSOE, but even more so the proposal that CC and PP will transfer to the plenary session to delete items approved in the current island Budget. This will affect the investment in the environmental improvement of the National Park (85,000 euros), the La Tahonilla center (178,000), the improvement of the Ravelo animal shelter (795,200) – to rehabilitate and adapt the rooms, build a clinic, the water treatment, etc.–, to the care of protected species, to the La Laguna Farmer’s Market (1,500,000) –proposal approved at the request of COAG–, to the Granadilla Farmer’s Market (500,000 euros) and to rehabilitate the warehouse from Benijos.
“We do not find sense in this way of understanding the protection of the primary sector”, a management that Pedro Martín describes as “incomprehensible” because, in addition, “the only known measure is that the president of the Cabildo will facilitate the paperwork to remove the pine needles. A great advance, as you can imagine, for improving the protection of our mountains,” he says ironically.
In his appearance before the press, the former president of the Cabildo vindicated the management of the previous mandate. In addition to remembering that until now the PSOE has been collaborative and has shown a conciliatory spirit in this matter – it facilitated the approval of an institutional proposal – and stressing that, since last March, the file to pay aid to livestock farmers is complete. ; In addition to highlighting that a month after the fire that took place in 2022 in the North was declared extinguished, work and investments were already being made in the recovery of the area; In addition to referring to the fact that “we multiply exponentially” the financing to acquire equipment, Martín gave as an example of good work “the extension from four to eight months, which this year will almost be nine, of the device to combat fires forestry». He maintains that what proceeds now is to “intervene and invest in prevention.”
A line that the island councilor Javier Parrilla, responsible for the Primary Sector area until last July, delved into: «The budgetary effort of this Council in aid for livestock has evolved progressively since 2019, so that we went from 2, “3 million budgeted to the more than 8 million of the current 2023.” In his opinion, “this effort must be redoubled now, when we are in the worst times for many agricultural, livestock and beekeeping operations.”
Pedro Martín concludes that the insular Government of CC and PP “lacks coordination, objectives and clear ideas.” He emphasizes that it is not appropriate to “cut back on what has cost so much to achieve for the weakest sectors, those in the primary sector. It’s time to work, get our act together and leave everything ready so that, when winter arrives, we have the projects and the necessary financing. “That’s what we’re missing.”
