SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The mayoress of Los Llanos de Aridane, Noelia García Leal, has requested the holding of a Mixed Commission before the end of the year to address “the difficult situation that we continue to live in, about to complete one year since the end of the eruption”.
“Exceptional measures and specific regulations are needed for absolutely exceptional circumstances such as the consequences derived from the volcanic eruption, which has little to do with other emergency situations,” said the mayoress.
Noelia García Leal explained that there are matters that cannot be delayed any longer, such as the commitments acquired with the financing of the reconstruction, the expenses incurred during the almost 3 months derived from the eruption and the IBI bonus for families who cannot access their households.
“We are at a time when it is key that we close the year knowing the updated data on the needs that are still pending,” said García Leal.
In addition, the mayoress stated that it cannot be ignored that a municipality like Los Llanos de Aridane, with the agricultural sector buried under the lava, thousands of canceled tourist beds, the industrial sector touched and a commercial sector that thrives on the above, ” is suffering serious difficulties, and we cannot make our neighbours, who have suffered the most, pay for the cost of recovery.
For this reason, he sees it as fundamental that an economic reconstruction table be set up, with concrete measures, deadlines and financing in the fields of the agricultural and livestock, tourism, industrial and commercial sectors. “We have to make an effort to provide certainty and generate enthusiasm for our neighbors,” he stressed.
In relation to the subsidy launched by the Ministry of Territorial Policy, signed last week, and in which the Government of Spain contributes 50% of the cost of the infrastructure to be replaced, the mayoress assured that it is impossible for city councils to face, with their own funds apart from the reconstruction, and considers it “profoundly unfair after the extra effort” that local administrations have made throughout this year.
“On repeated occasions we have requested greater support from both the Government of Spain and the Government of the Canary Islands so that they assume up to 75% of the investment, and the Autonomous Community 25%, since they have a greater capacity than we can have us,” he said.
While in relation to the subsidy launched by the Ministry of the Interior, which includes the expenses generated during the volcanic emergency, he pointed out that it is “very deficient and leaves out of the eligible expenses actions that have been and are being key to meet the needs of our neighbors in those hard times. “We want to pay the suppliers of the City Council in a timely manner as we are used to and we cannot do it if the Government does not pay us the expenses that we have had,” he added.
Finally, García Leal asks that his demand be taken into account and that this Commission be held next week.
