THE VILLAGE PRODUCERS WERE CLOTHED BY THOSE FROM TENERIFE, THE SOUTH OF GRAN CANARIA AND FUERTEVENTURA.

The tomato sector has already been planted. He has said enough and they will begin to fight for what belongs to them, “what is justice, what is ours, what they deny us by law and even claim us in court”.

The municipality of La Aldea became a clamor for the defense of the tomato sector with all that this implies. The staging of this “enough already” It was produced with the response of more than half a thousand village producers who were supported by farmers from Tenerife, from the southeast of Gran Canaria and from the south of Fuerteventura.

The motions approved in city councils, Cabildos and Parliament of the Canary Islands remained small in a Forum that exposed the harsh reality and proposed solutions, alternatives and actions. Not to say it louder, the message was clearer; but the feeling of exhaustion in the face of continued political apathy was the common denominator of the messages.

The event was attended by the presidents of the two tomato exporting companies of La Aldea, Juan Antonio Angulo, by Hortícola Aldeana and Juan José del Pino, of the Cooperativa Agrícola COAGRISÁN, who welcomed and thanked the attendees for their presence.

The president of COAGISORA -southwest of Tenerife also spoke- and representative of ACETO, Felipe Delgado and the president of FEDEX, Jose Juan Bonny, who agreed on the need to take actions to ensure that the payments of the aid and compensations of the transport pending payment are met.

The president of ASAJA, Roberto Goiriz, insisted on Moroccan breaches and how they affect the sector with impunity, in addition to remembering the different battles that have been held years ago for the survival of the sector.

The Feagra general secretary of the Workers' Commissions union, Esther Martin, pointed out the importance of the second largest export activity in the Canary Islands, as well as the level of employability in women older than 45 years that, today, they are the ones that contribute the only income to the family unit.

The president of COAG Canary, Rafael Hernández, recalled the repeated breaches of the administrations, as well as the unequal distributions that are being made of POSEI, despite reports from the European Commission that are contrary to current allocations.

The representative of CC.OO. of the agri-food branch, Agustin Sosa, proposed the creation of a sectoral table in which to negotiate the claims and demands of the export tomato, as well as the distributions of the POSEI and the Rural Development Plan, using employability as a preferential data.

The mayor of La Aldea, José M. Rodriguez, referred to the motions approved in support of the tomato sector and mentioned that these were translated into facts.

With everything, the staging of “satiety” the sector has continued to light the wick of the claim, to move on to more forceful actions for what they consider “a tease of our politicians”.

The general feeling of those attending the event that we were able to collect referred to the “dignity of the sector”: “If we disappear it won't be because we haven't done anything, we will die fighting for what belongs to us, for what is justice and who has the responsibility to give the explanations”.

The massive participation of La Aldea demonstrated the importance of the export tomato sector for the economy of the municipality and the concern that keeps hundreds of farmers in suspense due to the uncertainty of the situation, that could lead to the collapse of the local economy.

The next call will be held in Tenerife and the next in Fuerteventura. The unification of criteria, the defense of the sector and what it represents is at the core of what can be translated into “strong measures”, explain from the sector.