The president of the Gomera Socialist Group Parliamentary Group insists on giving greater dissemination to alternative telephone numbers that involve less expense for citizens
The president of the Gomera Socialist Group (ASG) Parliamentary Group, Melodie Mendoza, questioned, this Wednesday, the cost of the telephone call service to 012 and has raised the possibility of reviewing the national resolution that stipulates the rates so that they are free.
“We are in a social moment of constant change due to the situation we are experiencing and, in this context, I want to highlight that even the way in which citizens communicate with the administration has been modified, since we could say that this has been reduced to two ways: through the internet or by telephone,” said the regional deputy in a question asked in a parliamentary committee to the regional councilor for Public Administrations, Justice and Security, Julio Pérez.
Mendoza explained that "despite the fact that the majority of citizens who turn to the administration are people who do so precisely because of their situation of economic vulnerability, neither the internet nor 012 are exactly free." He recalled that "in the Canary Islands we currently use 012 for a multitude of functions, even to make an appointment with the Canarian Health Service, but also for many other services that are exclusively intended for the most economically disadvantaged families, since we are talking about social aid."
The Gomera representative stressed that, although it is true that 012 is not free, "the two telephone numbers intended for the same purpose such as 922 23 93 01 and 928 21 90 30 are much cheaper, although these telephone numbers are never advertised or, at least, not enough." Likewise, he insisted on giving more dissemination to these numbers, with the aim of giving it more publicity and reaching as many people as possible.
"It is true that the cost of this service is not abusive, but it is contradictory that for the majority of the functions for which this number is intended, this is a chargeable call," he stated. "We know that the rate of this call does not depend on the Government of the Canary Islands, because it is set by a resolution at the national level, although it is also true that it is a resolution from 2012, which perhaps is time to review and assess whether this telephone should continue to be paid or totally free, because let's not forget that we are talking about a public service," he said.
Common Deputy
The president of the ASG parliamentary group recalled that, at the time, Jerónimo Saavedra, when he was carrying out the work of Common Deputy, “after repeated complaints from citizens, he processed said request to the President of the Government on that date (Fernando Clavijo), asking him that every time 012 was advertised, reference should also be made to the other two numbers and the free service be negotiated with the State.”
“I ask the Canary Islands Executive to also take on this complaint and resolve it, and more, taking into account the social and economic moment we are experiencing, as a result of the effects of Covid-19, since, for many families, every cent counts,” he stated. “Now more than ever we must be especially careful with these small details, because it is the details that make the difference between one way of governing or another,” he stated.
