SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 26 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The company Management and Territorial and Environmental Planning (Gesplan), attached to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, has removed more than 230,000 cubic meters of ashes in homes and agricultural areas of La Palma in the last five months after the eruption of the volcano within the framework of the Employment Plan.
This has been detailed by the CEO of the Public company, Agoney Piñero, this Thursday, in his speech at the commission on the effects of the volcanological crisis and reconstruction of La Palma held in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
The CEO explained that the public company is currently working on four different projects linked to the recovery of the island.
Thus, it is about the Territorial Framework for the recovery of normality after the eruption of the volcano, the Employment Plan ‘Emergencia Volcán La Palma’, the drafting of assessment reports and appraisal of damages of first residences affected by the volcano and the work replacement of the irrigation network of Cruz Bermeja and Las Haciendas, in the municipality of Tazacorte.
Piñero indicated that the Extraordinary Employment and Training Plan, which emanates from the agreement between the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, is being developed throughout this year in order to undertake various action measures quickly to alleviate the damage caused by the volcanic eruption.
Specifically, it is endowed with 24.5 million euros and has allowed the hiring of 865 direct workers, in addition to numerous companies (at the moment 44 contracts have been signed), the vast majority in La Palma, collects a note from Gesplan.
“To date, around 40% of the project has been executed and actions have been undertaken with a far-reaching social and economic impact, mainly based on cleaning up ashes in the territory, which is allowing the recovery of residential, agricultural and infrastructure,” he stressed.
Likewise, it stressed that in the urban areas of Las Manchas El Paso and Los Llanos and in the urban area of Tacande, a total of 525,000 square meters of surface area has been intervened, both private plots, their surroundings and accesses, as well as streets, sidewalks and local highways and a total of 334 homes have been served to date, dislodging a volume of more than 160,000 cubic meters of volcanic ash from this area.
Added to this is the work in agricultural areas, both in vineyards and banana plantations, in the areas of Llano de Tamanca Romanciaderos and Hoyo Verdugo, in Los Llanos, on a total of 130,000 square meters, removing more than 70,000 cubic meters of ash .
“Interventions are also being carried out on natural spaces and forest areas, such as the cleaning and restoration of some 30 kilometers of trails and the recovery of the El Pilar recreational area, among other tasks,” he asserted.
Regarding training, he announced that more than 15 actions of different kinds have been carried out to date, in which more than 300 people have participated and 52 actions are planned, reaching 835 beneficiaries.
TERRITORIAL FRAMEWORK FOR RECOVERY
The person in charge of Gesplan explained that the territorial framework for the recovery of normality after the eruption of the volcano is carried out by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, together with Gestur and Grafcan, whose main objective, in the short term, is to have of an urban proposal for the restoration of the volcanic affected area in the Aridane Valley and execute it with the legal procedure that is most relevant to its urgent and exceptional purpose.
“For its development, we have set up a multidisciplinary team made up of twenty people, including both specialists from the entity with experience in drafting the Master Plan for the area affected by the eruptive phenomenon in Chã das Caldeiras, in the island of Fogo, as well as professionals from La Palma”, he stated.
For this, it is proposed to carry out a preliminary work of data collection for the subsequent definition of objectives and scenarios of territorial recovery as adapted as possible to people and to the new post-eruptive risk scenario, following a work methodology with a clear focus community, where direct participation with affected people is effective and operational.
For this purpose, informative sessions are held on the progress of the work, as well as specific workshops with those affected, in which more than 300 people have participated in the different workshops during this time.
HOME VALUATION
“We are also working on the drafting of reports on the valuation and appraisal of damage to primary residences affected by the volcano in La Palma, a commission also from our Ministry that ends on June 30, 2022 and whose budget amounts to 388,012 euros,” he explained.
So far, he indicated, “420 valuations have been carried out and sent and it is important to point out that the purpose is to establish exclusively the value of the affected and completely destroyed construction, just as only damages located in the house itself.
IRRIGATION NETWORK
Regarding the work to replace the irrigation network of Cruz Bermeja and Las Haciendas, in Tazacorte, Piñero explained that it is a project commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, with a budget of 1.4 million euros and an execution period of five months.
“The main purpose of the works is to replace the irrigation of the plots that have been freed from flows in the San Isidro area and the main pipeline, so that it can connect the existing branches that have been left without service after being isolated by the flow” , said.
In total, the branch will have a length of 1,680 meters. In addition, the corresponding connections will be made so that these new pipes connect with the existing ones in the area of influence of the irrigation network.
There are currently four work points throughout the network in order to move forward as quickly as possible.
