The PSOE will present at the next Plenary Session of the Council a motion with a set of measures for the recovery of the damaged forests and to help the activities of the primary sector that have been affected by the forest fire that started on August 15 on the Island. for an investment of 21,264,000 euros in a multi-year plan until 2025. This was announced yesterday by Pedro Martín, spokesperson for the socialist group in the Cabildo, in an event together with the island councilor Javier Parrilla.
“We were on the side of the Cabildo Government during the time that the fire was in its worst situation, but we want this Cabildo to activate as soon as possible, because seeing what it intends to take to Plenary next week, it seems to us that it is lacking measures that they really come to recover the tremendous deterioration that our flora and fauna has suffered,” denounced Martín.
The spokesperson for the socialist group stressed that the Cabildo “has the capacity to make the budget modifications” necessary to achieve these items, “especially if it is done in a multi-year plan,” and recalled that “in the last fire in 2022 in Los Realejos “When the month of extinction was over, we already had people working in the area recovering the entire forest, but for that we have to have the projects and financing ready, something we can’t find.”
Specifically, among the measures proposed by the PSOE, and Pedro Martín outlined, is extraordinary aid to replace the beekeeping infrastructure and the livestock herd and compensate for the loss of production, for a total of 1,764,000 euros. Likewise, for the livestock sector, they propose an investment of 500,000 euros for all farms located in the affected area.
Likewise, they propose some 19 million in the period 2023-2025 for immediate intervention with a comprehensive recovery plan for the affected forests, reforestation and restoration of the areas, including the use of drones for the dispersion of relevant species. in each of the spaces, the creation of fascines, containment through slopes, the cleaning and preparation of the land and the recovery of paths and tracks.
The immediate payment of aid for livestock feeding, for 2,500,000 euros, called last March, and complementary aid for beekeeping feeding, for 140,000 euros, are also requested.
For his part, Javier Parrilla added that “we have established concrete measures, because even though we are not in the Government, we believe that we must respond to the needs of the sector.” The island councilor also recalled that the Cabildo “has the Island Animal Welfare Council, which the previous government launched and is the advisory body that can have direct contact not only with civil society, the ULL and the college of veterinarians, but with all associations and groups.”
On the other hand, Pedro Martín denounced that, in addition, “we are still more concerned that the only proposals that the Government seems to bring to the plenary session next week are withdrawals of economic items that we had approved and that were already in the budgets.” As, as listed, for the environmental improvement in the Teide National Park (85,000 euros), for the Tahonilla Center (178,000 euros), for the improvement of the Ravelo Animal Shelter (795,200 euros) or for the Farmer’s Market of La Laguna (1,500,000 euros), among others.
Therefore, the party will present amendments to this budget modification, within the framework of the next celebration of the plenary Finance commission. “I think that this Council lacks coordination, objectives and, above all, clear ideas, and not cutting back on what it has cost so much to achieve for the weakest sectors in the primary sphere,” Martín concluded.
