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21st February 2014 - 27th February 2014
5 CW
Ring road and schools to cost a mighty 500m IT will cost about 500 million euros to complete the Island ring road and build 15 new schools.
That’s the prediction of José Luis Delgado, Tenerife’s Minister for Roads and Landscapes, who says the investment would, potentially, create 1,500 jobs directly, and a further 2,200 indirectly. Priority would be given to completing the ring road section between El Tanque and Santiago del Teide, followed by the 15 schools. Funding would be sought from the Canary Island Government and Tenerife Cabildo, as well as private companies, which, Delgado
believes, is the “only way forward” for the pending projects.
The Minister, accompanied by Chamber of Commerce Vice-Presi-
dent Hoel Pérez Rein, was addressing over 100 entrepreneurs at
a co-operation day for the “Public and Private Partnership for the Promotion of Infrastructure”. It featured 15 speakers, including senior officials from the Development Ministry, plus representatives of major banking institutions BBVA and Caixabank. Leading consultancy firms Price Waterhouse Coopers and Corporación5 were also there. Delgado, not for the first time, criticised the Development Ministry for refusing to invest in roads, particularly when residents contribute, via taxes, towards their upkeep. His sentiments were supported by Hoel, who said public investment had plummeted since the start of the reces-
sion. He also stressed that the infrastructure was a strategic asset an investment which would boost the economy. Delgado hopes to open doors for collaboration between public and corporate entities, and feel that a public/private partnership is the way forward. He emphasised the need for global action, which would include construction, maintenance, renovation and renewal, together with operations’ management for publiclyowned infrastructure. He also hopes to secure the co-operation of companies with experience in the sector, particularly those with the equipment and credentials to meet the challenges ahead.
Soria backs oil search JOSÉ Manuel Soria, Spain’s Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, is defending the proposed search for oil off the Canaries’ coast. He believes the benefit to the Islands’ economy and job creation is “very important”. Gran Canaria-born Soria, former Cabildo President there, and once Mayor of Las Palmas, is supporting the proposal, which seeks to carry out surveys off the coast of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. In response to a question in Parliament, Soria said that the Canaries’ jobless total sat at 35%, and that anything to boost job creation should be welcomed. He added that as twothirds of the Islands’ economy depended on tourism, the figure of 35% unemployed tied in with his reasoning that the Canaries currently have “tourism and nothing else”. He also called for support to promote the research and exploration,
while remaining sympathetic to the environment. Soria stressed that no surveys were to take place within 60 kilometres of the Canary Islands’ coasts, nor the coast of Morocco. Also, surveys will be confined to an area sitting on an imaginary line separating Spanish and Moroccan waters. The Minister said the preliminary studies
indicated that oil in the area could reduce Spain’s imports of crude by around 10%. The proposal has been met with much local opposition, particularly by those who fear that drilling will affect tourism and the environment. However, Soria believes that an oil industry will bring improvements to ports, and, in turn, tourism.