“We need to change the Plan General to suit the true requirements and demands”

FMHOY - Fuerteventura

Further to the latest municipal elections, some changes have occurred in the island’s administrations, and we started by welcoming the new mayor of Puerto del Rosario, David Cristóbal de Vera Cabrera.

We had already met him when he was in charge of agriculture and livestock farming; this is, therefore, a new challenge in his career.

How you feel being mayor for this new term?

After an electoral process, in which we were deeply involved in the development of this ayuntamiento, first of all, I would like to thank the population for their support and confidence.

Our Government group consists of four councillors from the socialist group and there are seven of us from Coalición Canaria, over the next four years, we want to achieve our commitments presented during our campaign.

They are commitments related to the various realities of Puerto del Rosario, not only concerning urbanism, where there are quite a few issues, because urban land isn’t consolidated, which causes various problems with basic services, such as cleaning, lighting and asphalting in various areas of the municipality.

Of course, as the municipality grows, its necessities have also changed...

Puerto del Rosario and Betancuria are amongst the few municipalities that have an urban tool in their Plan General, but it doesn’t plan for the growth of those areas, it is, therefore, necessary to change the Plan

General to suit the true requirements and demands of our population.

We criticised a lot the previous Government group (never personally), and now we must achieve what we promised, especially concerning Social Services. This is actually an area that I am personally looking after, in addition to being mayor, because we want to look after our population’s needs as much as possible, not just with home health care for the most vulnerable population, but also regarding mobility, the handicap, inclusion, direct support for education and for people who don’t have access to basic services, such as electricity, etc. Our population has many different demands and we, the ayuntamientos, need to respond quickly. This is a very delicate and demanding sector.

Indeed, and, any delay in the management of the support affects strongly the people who need it. And in what state did you find the ayuntamiento?

As we pointed out during our campaign, this ayuntamiento was putting out fires as and when they appeared, without any solid planning, which is very important in any type of administration. For example, regarding important matters such as the electricity supply of this ayuntamiento, at present, we are without an adjudicated supplier, we pay what is called “the last resort rate”, which is the market rate plus a 20% charge, which means that we are paying the most expensive rate of the market because there was no call for tenders for the supply to find an adequate supplier.

The municipality’s fire services and sewage service are in default, and the same applies to the maintenance service of the parks and gardens because there was no call for tenders, and there isn’t even a procedure prepared, which confirms that a lot was improvised.

Once those structures are properly planned, we then can start to talk about other matters which are also important, such as the sports city, entertainment and green areas, etc., for the wellbeing of the population, but first, we need a strong administration. This sounds like work that isn’t very obvious to the public but is very intense...

The whole Government group is very enthusiastic, and the first thing we did, was to open the ayuntamiento to the population, with a reception desk where they are welcomed and given the information they need, and to ensure they know where to go.

We also have problems that won’t be quickly or easily fixed, which means that we need to plan long-term solutions. We must provide a response regarding the ayuntamiento’s solvency and ability to make decisions.

Another subject is the municipality’s cleaning, not just in Puerto del Rosario, but in all the villages that create our identity and that’s why we need to be strict. Since you are a mixed group, it should be a good way of being able to see what was not done properly or what needs to be improved.

They are not daily problems, it is a lack of structure. We have made an agreement with all our colleagues who work here and we have to work hand in hand with this ayuntamiento’s staff, because they are the human capital that will enable us to achieve our obligations, for example, we are the first ones to arrive at work and the last ones to leave.

David Cristóbal