SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, June 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The general secretary of the Canary Islands Coalition (CC), Fernando Clavijo, and the president of the Herreña de Independientes Association (AHI), Javier Armas, have signed this Wednesday the agreement by which the formation from El Hierro will join the new Executive with the figure of former counselor Narvay Quintero.
In a joint press conference, Clavijo stressed that the agreement, which brings the majority of the pact to 35 deputies by adding one from AHI and awaiting the three from ASG that will be signed this Thursday, “has been easy” since it has meant the recognition of the “commitment” that CC maintains to comply with “the rights” of the citizens of the ‘green islands’.
He has said that in this last legislature there has been a “distance” of the island from the rest of the archipelago in socioeconomic indicators and the objective now is to recover the philosophy of the Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN) of achieving “positive discrimination” that has into account the territories and not only the population in the distribution of economic resources.
Along these lines, he has criticized that the Government of the Canary Islands “did not maintain the singularities” of the island nor did the Cabildo defend them and “this is going to change radically” in this Legislature.
Among the points included in the agreement, Armas has highlighted the development of the ‘law of green islands’, the fuel tax bonus to lower the price of fuel by an average of 28 cents, more support for SMEs and reduction of quotas to Social Security; face the “demographic challenge” because the island is stagnant; the improvement of maritime connectivity with a new Public Service Obligation (OSP) that includes a ship with more vehicle loading capacity or the recovery of rural spaces.
He pointed out that it is about achieving a “better island” and supporting the Government with its “vision” of the Canary Islands given that El Hierro “has not done well” in the last four years because the citizens have become “impoverished” by the high fuel prices -he has calculated about 3,000 euros more per year than the people of Tenerife- and the high cost of living.
Armas also commented that this agreement does not imply a change in the island’s tourism model, which “is very clear” in the island plan approved in 2011 and advocates “balanced growth”, which includes limits and ceilings that not even the The latest project of strategic interest approved in the Gulf surpasses it.
However, he has indicated that for AHI “it is a satisfaction” to sign the government agreement with a deputy, Raúl Acosta, who has achieved “one of the objectives” of the electoral campaign, to make the island’s demands visible and to contribute his “model “to the construction of the archipelago.
