Sánchez asks the European Commission to activate the solidarity fund with La Palma

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Friday in The Palm that Spain is going to formally request the European Comission to activate the Solidarity Fund to obtain resources with which to face the reconstruction of all the damages generated by the eruption.

Sánchez hoped to have had the opportunity to discuss this matter in person in Santa Cruz de La Palma with the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevi & ccaron; ius, but this finally has not been able to make the visit that he had announced to the island, due to difficulties in air connections.

The Prime Minister stressed that, Although the emergency has not ended, all administrations are doing a permanent job to assess the damage caused by the volcano, without neglecting, he said, another type of damage that is aware that “possibly they will never be able to be repaired.”

Sánchez thus referred to those citizens who, with their house, have lost something more than a property or a resource, they have lost memories and emotional relationships of a lifetime. “I can’t get an idea of ​​what that represents,” the president confessed.

Repair supplies

He has also announced that the next Minister council will approve a € 4 million grant to repair water supply facilities, and that another 5 million will be transferred shortly for personnel expenses, current expenses, home assistance, accommodation management, and social, psychological and educational support.

By December, a decree endowed with 2.5 million is expected to be approved for scientific research projects around the eruption.

Sánchez has emphasized that in these eight weeks that have elapsed since the beginning of the eruption in Cumbre Vieja the pace of work displayed by the government has been “extraordinary.”

In this time he has transferred to the Canarian Executive 10.5 million for aid for housing and appliances, and another 18.8 for aid in the field of fishing and agriculture.

He has also cited the transfer of a tanker to supply irrigation water to the farms isolated by the washings, to the 33.6 million already paid by the Insurance Compensation Consortium, almost 85% of which for homes, and to the 974 workers covered by the special ERTE mechanism for La Palma.

What’s more, 297 requests for deferral or splitting of tax debts have been processed for a value of 442,687 euros.

“For the benefit of those who have suffered”

Sánchez has promised that the Government will do “everything and more” to respond to the emergency and to “offer a horizon of prosperity, progress, reconstruction and relaunch” of La Palma, which carries “structural deficits” that must be addressed.

“We will have resources, 200 million for the reconstruction of the island. They are many. We are going to invest them well for the benefit of those who have suffered the most, those who have lost their home, their memories, their family memory “, he has guaranteed.

The president has stressed that regardless of the fact that it is not yet known, “unfortunately,” when the eruption will end, the unity that all the institutions have shown so far will continue to make all these commitments a reality.

The Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julio Pérez, has pointed out that “the first signs of reconstruction have begun” and added that the speed with which all administrations are acting is “truly remarkable, although everything It can improve”.

Pérez has indicated that the institutionss must correspond to “the integrity” that the palm trees have shown in the face of adversity, as well as the solidarity and proximity expressed by the entire Canary Islands, Spain and even Europe. “That forces us even more,” he said.

Related news

The president of the Cabildo de La Palma, Mariano Hernández Zapata, has proclaimed that he feels “very proud” to hold this position because of “the attitude, sacrifice, tenacity and ability to excel” of his fellow citizens, who have “given a great example to the world. “

Hernández Zapata stressed that in the face of an extraordinary situation, the measures arbitrated by the administrations have to be “up to par”, and although he believes that work is being done quickly, he has assumed that “we have to be faster and more efficient” because that is what that society demands of them.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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