The municipalities of Candelaria, Arafo Y Güímar consider that It is urgent to solve the traffic problem that is generated in the access to the Valle de Güímar Industrial Park. To do this, they will transfer to the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Canary Islands Government to prioritize and adopt palliative measures while advancing in the implementation of the projects and works that will allow the completion of the unfinished bridge, located at kilometer 18.5 of the highway, as well as building a new access further south, at the height of El Socorro and Montaña Grande.
With this, the municipal administrations align themselves with the businessmen living in the industrial complex, who have formulated a similar intervention to the General Directorate of Road Infrastructure of the regional Executive. The industrialists proposed the creation of temporary branches to avoid the use of the Polígono roundabout by traffic that does not go to it.
The regional highways area is in favor of facing the completion of the bridge that would communicate the Polygon with Horse Back and Icerse, one kilometer from the current link. Built with the third extension lane of the TF-1 between Santa Cruz and Arafo (the Las Caletillas-Arafo section entered service on April 13, 2007), is disabled due to the lack of connection by the sea side of the highway, located at the height of the facilities of the JSP company. It so happens that on February 5, 2021, the municipalities of the region asked the general director of Road Infrastructure, José Luis Delgado, that the Canarian Government finalize that bridge. They hope to hold a next meeting to learn about the progress that has been made.
Another of the solutions provided by the Canarian Government and which is proposed as a preferred action in this situation is the construction of a new link between the TF-1 and the Valle de Güímar Industrial Estate on the south side. It is contemplated in the design proposal for the third lane of the highway, which will run from the current access, located in Arafo, to San Isidro, in Granadilla de Abona. A work that does not yet have a project.
Work meeting
This is one of the conclusions reached by the mayors María Concepción Brito (Candelaria), Juan Ramón Martín (Arafo) and Gustavo Pérez (Güímar) during the meeting held yesterday at the Arafera Town Hall. A work meeting called to discuss common issues and delve into some matters. In addition to the management of the Industrial Park and the regulation of access and traffic to the area, they talked about culture and youth. All this, “in order to strengthen the ties between the different neighboring towns and collaborate in new initiatives that promote the economic and social development of the municipalities.”
Waste
At the meeting held yesterday, councilors Brito, Martín and Pérez also addressed the current situation of discharges into the sea from the industrial complex of the Güímar Valley. In this chapter, the municipal authorities made progress on the proposed regulation formulated by the Tenerife Island Water Council (Ciatf), which must be approved before the Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (Edari) is put into operation. The document will collect the operating parameters that will govern this service and that, presumably, will entail modifications in the current planning in the three municipalities.
With prior consultation with employers, the final text will be agreed upon and will give way to municipal ordinances that will regulate discharges. The purpose is to unify the text of the regulations, which must be approved by the plenary sessions of the three city councils, so that the same regulation is applied throughout the geographical area of the Polygon.
The mayors advanced in outlining the content of the agreements for the maintenance of the urban and industrial treatment plants of the Güímar Valley, advances that also took place in the content of the statutes of the Consortium that will assume the management of the maintenance and conservation of the polygon. It is the figure for which the municipalities of Candelaria, Arafo and Güímar opted after years of controversy in this regard.
Culture, a common element
The region has a population of around 60,000 inhabitants, so the mayors analyzed the possibility of coordinating joint actions in cultural matters. The purpose is to develop actions that make the Güímar Valley a point of reference in this activity so that the sector adds and benefits from the economic recovery. Likewise, they agreed to promote meetings between those responsible for the Department of Culture in order to coordinate the agendas to avoid coincidences in the celebration of events and, with this, facilitate their attendance to the public.
