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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FRIDAY 10th FEBRUARY TO THURSDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2017 TV GUIDE
PAGES 25 -32
EDITION 569
MOVIES AT ...
PAGES 49 -56
FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT F
property p
guide
FIREFIGHTERS TO TAKE INDEFINITE STRIKE TO THE STREETS Sirens to sound, flares to be let off
T
ENERIFE firefighters are preparing to take to the streets as part of their indefinite strike.
The industrial action began on January 30th and protest marches are being planned, including in Santa Cruz on Friday, Februar y 10th. The trade union CC.OO says it called the strike because of major concerns over what they say are deficiencies in various areas such as staffing, training, materials and resources. But answering concerns that there could be a catastrophe in the event of a major fire, plane crash, motorway pile-up, explosion or the like, island leaders say this would not be the case. Spanish law says strikers have to maintain the minimum service and the Tenerife Fire Consortium says it is doing just that, having 44 staff on duty at any one time. Security chief for Tenerife Cabildo Javier Rodríguez said in a “clear and categorical” way that the south of the island WAS safe. A statement from the convenors also assured: “These minimum services will be established with 44 daily firefighters, the same number with daily operations, so that the normal functioning of all the work centres of the Consortium will not be affected.” ”The Tenerife Firefighters Consortium guarantees that
this figure allows maintaining the provision of the service, while not impairing the exercise of the right to strike, since it coincides with the minimum daily staff endowments.” Tenerife is said to have one fireman per 5,000 inhabitants. The national average is one for every 2,000, and in countries like Germany, this ratio is reduced to one per 800 inhabitants. The Consortium is also unhappy about the proposed construction of a 1.2 million euro fire station in La Laguna to be manned by volunteers. They feel the money could be better spent elsewhere. They have also expressed regret that there is only one fire station in the south of Tenerife (see full inside story), namely at San Miguel de Abona. The firemen went on strike in Tenerife in 2008 and 2011 and the Consortium would like to know the exact terms of the agreement. It has also asked the union to explain in detail what their grievances are so they can arrange to sit around a negotiating table with all parties concerned. Tenerife Cabildo says progress is being made on a document for the provision of two new fire stations in the south of the island, specifically
in the Güímar Valley and in the surroundings of the municipalities of Arona-Adeje-Guía de Isora. These would complement the current map of 13 fire stations distributed throughout the island, ie five professional fire stations and eight volunteer fire stations. Of the five professional stations, four are in the north. The first steps of the dossier are to obtain the land for subsequent drafting of the projects, to tender the works, to execute them and to equip them with the human and material resources necessary for their effective operation. The Cabildo says 2.8 million euros has been allocated and that the budget for the Fire Consortium this year was increased by two million euros. Staffing had also been increased which in turn would reduce the amount of overtime existing fire personnel had to do. Friday’s demonstration in Santa Cruz will see protest banners hung at the city’s fire station saying “Danger: each year less firefighters.” Sirens will be sounded and flares set off. The fire brigade says this is deliberately planned to give more visible evidence to the strike as because of the requirement to give cover, people on the island might not
realise they are taking industrial action or why. So far, the striking firemen
say official meetings have only been about maintaining minimum services and pro-
viding adequate cover for the Carnival but nothing deeper.
Eleven people drown in Canaries in January
T
HE Canary Islands ARE a safe place for swimming, despite what appears to be a lot of drownings in recent months.
Statistics confirm that eleven people have lost their lives in the Canary Islands, victims of water-related accidents during Januar y 2017, an increase of three people (+ 22%) compared to the same month of the previous year. The archipelago also closed 2016 as the autonomous community with the greatest number of deaths in the aquatic environment. However, promoters of a new Canary safety campaign
“Canaries, 1500km of coast” say the figures could give rise to false alarm as the beaches themselves are ver y safe. Around 50 are able to fly the Blue Flag which is only given if stringent safety precautions are in place. The organisers of the campaign also stressed the importance of safety campaigns as last summer, the Canaries cut deaths by a third thanks to information relayed through the press, radio and TV.
Of the eleven deaths in January, nearly three quarters of them were bathers. They were of Spanish, German, Finnish and Belgian nationality. The environment where the total incidents occurred were beaches at 75 per cent, natural pools at five per cent and others the remainder. By age, 45 per cent of the victims were adults, 20 per cent were over 60 and ten per cent were children. By islands, Tenerife and Gran Canaria registered the most deaths, four in each. Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Palma count a death in each one.