PP, AMF and Nueva Canarias have registered a motion to unblock payments to suppliers in Tuineje, exceeding €4.5 million, and criticise CC for attempting to blame public employees for the unpaid bills.
The opposition groups in the Tuineje City Council have joined forces to present a joint motion aimed at resolving the blockage in payments to suppliers, a debt that already exceeds €4.5 million. The initiative, driven by PP, AMF and Nueva Canarias, will be debated in the ordinary plenary session next Tuesday, July 21, and comes in response to the motion from Coalición Canaria, which they accuse of wanting to shift political responsibility onto municipal workers.
An attack on public employees
The opposition spokespersons have described CC's proposal as “an unjustified attack” on the staff of the City Council, insinuating that they may have engaged in conduct classified under the Penal Code. “The workers are not responsible for the problem,” they stated in a joint communiqué, reminding that economic management falls under the municipal government.
For PP, AMF and NC, Coalición Canaria's motion “lacks legal foundation” and seeks to divert attention from the real cause of the blockage: the mayor's inability to exercise his powers. “A mayor who needs the support of the Plenary to order the suspension of teleworking or process budget modifications shows a manifest incapacity,” they have criticised.
An urgent alternative to unblock invoices
In contrast to what they consider a political manoeuvre, the opposition has registered an urgent motion with four specific measures. The first is to prioritise the immediate processing of the recognition and payment files for pending invoices, which mainly affect freelancers and SMEs that have been waiting for months, and even years, without payment.
Additionally, they propose to expedite tenders and administrative procedures to ensure the functioning of municipal services, as well as approve an extraordinary shock plan with a payment schedule to regularise all debts. Finally, they demand monthly reports to the Plenary on the evolution of payments and the reduction of the average payment period.
The opposition groups have emphasised that the Tuineje City Council has sufficient liquidity, with over €20 million in bank accounts, so the blockage does not stem from a lack of funds but from poor political management. “It is unacceptable that suppliers, many of whom are small local business owners, continue to wait while the municipal government gets entangled in internal disputes,” they have pointed out.
The government partner absent from the controversy
The motion from Coalición Canaria has been registered alone, without the support of its government partner, the Socialist Party. This detail has not gone unnoticed by the opposition, which interprets it as a sign of the lack of internal cohesion within the government team. “It is significant that even their own partner does not support this initiative,” they have noted.
The opposition has also warned that some actions by the mayor could be null and void, such as appointing a municipal worker as an instructor of procedures, a competence that legally belongs to the mayor. “A mayor who intends for the Plenary to decide which workers can opt for teleworking applies a discriminatory criterion and acts outside the law,” they have denounced.
The plenary session next Tuesday presents a key scenario for determining the future of payments in Tuineje. Meanwhile, freelancers and SMEs in the municipality continue to await a solution that the opposition promises to be “legal, viable and in accordance with the law”.
You may also like
