psoe tenerife fire prevention cuts gesplan

PSOE warns Tenerife fire prevention cuts risk lives

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

PSOE accuses Tenerife Cabildo of cutting fire prevention work

The PSOE in Tenerife warned this Friday that the island’s Cabildo, governed by Coalición Canaria and the PP, has scaled back fire prevention work on the island by scrapping tasks that had been scheduled under the commission to Gesplan to reinforce the forest brigades.

The public company has informed more than 120 workers that their activity will end on 30 October, rather than the 24 November initially planned, and that the preventive work scheduled for that period will not go ahead. As a result, those workers will be employed for a month and a half less: they started in mid-May rather than 6 April and will finish on 30 October instead of 24 November.

“Tenerife needs stronger fire prevention, not less”

The general secretary of the PSOE in Tenerife, Tamara Raya, believes the decision represents a step backwards in the protection of the island’s forests and its population. “Tenerife needs to strengthen fire prevention, and Rosa Dávila’s government is doing the opposite: it is scrapping actions that were already planned and ending the work of the crews that were supposed to carry them out ahead of time. We demand that it explain how it intends to ensure those tasks are carried out,” she said.

Raya stressed that planning must respond to weather conditions that extend the risk well beyond the summer. “We cannot keep thinking of fires as a three-month problem. Climate change is prolonging high-risk conditions and prevention requires continuous work throughout the year. Looking after our mountains demands resources, staff and planning that is not interrupted by administrative problems,” she said.

Gesplan confirms preventive work will not be carried out

The communication sent by Gesplan to its staff expressly states that, following instructions from the Cabildo’s Legal Department, the preventive work initially planned will not be carried out under the current commission. The document links that decision to the early end of the workforce’s activity.

Socialist councillor Javier Rodríguez Medina highlighted that actions which already formed part of the planning are being removed. “Silvicultural treatments and the reduction of vegetation fuel are essential to reduce the fire’s ability to spread and to make it easier to bring under control. Scrapping scheduled work amounts to cutting prevention in our mountains,” he argued.

Rodríguez Medina called on the island government to set out in detail which actions remain outstanding, in which areas they were due to be carried out and how it will guarantee they are completed. “If there is a problem with processing the commission, it is up to the Cabildo to resolve it and offer an alternative. What it cannot do is stop carrying out the work and pass the consequences on to the protection of the island and to the workers,” he added.

PSOE says it warned of delays back in May

The PSOE recalled that back in May it had already flagged the delay in bringing in the forest reinforcement. “First we warned that staff were not starting on the planned date, and now we learn that their work is being brought to an end earlier than announced. Prevention needs stable teams and sound planning, not uncertainty at the start and the end of the campaign,” the councillor said.

On top of the loss of preventive work comes the job insecurity facing those more than 120 workers on permanent seasonal contracts, who will see their planned period of activity shortened and still have no definitive dates for their return to work.

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