Home » News » Population challenged to change their usual clothes for Viana’s costume at the Pilgrimage d’Agonia

Population challenged to change their usual clothes for Viana’s costume at the Pilgrimage d’Agonia

The spokesman for the civic movement SOS Serra d’Arga, in the district of Viana do Castelo, today classified the draft decree-law aimed at regulating the future mining law and whose public consultation ended on July 31, as “very bad”.

“The decree-law is very bad because it leaves the possibility for mining companies to do almost everything. Even an environmental impact study cannot prevent mining. With this proposal for a decree-law, nothing can be prevented, everything is open ”, said Carlos Seixas, in statements to the Lusa agency.

At issue is the draft decree-law that regulates the so-called mine law (Law 54/2015, of 22 June), which was under public discussion between 16 and 31 July.

According to Carlos Seixas, the movement that contests the possible exploitation of lithium in the Serra d’Arga presented, during that consultation, a formal pronunciation of 32 pages, where “it counters, point by point, a series of aspects that are absolutely unspeakable”.

“I can’t even say what it should be. The legislator apparently forgot to legislate, to make a fact tailored to mining companies. It seems that the legislator wanted to put all the meat in the roaster, to see if anything happens. We answer point by point, so as not to miss anything ”, he guaranteed.

The Serra d’Arga covers an area of ​​10,000 hectares in the municipalities of Caminha, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Paredes de Coura, Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima, of which 4,280 are classified as a Site of Community Importance.

Those five municipalities have the “From Serra d’Arga to Foz do Âncora” project, led by the Alto Minho Intermunicipal Community (CIM), which aims to classify Serra d’Arga as a Protected Landscape Area of ​​Municipal Interest.

“The proposal that was in public consultation is not green, nor does it protect anything. It even admits the hypothesis that not even a protected landscape or a Natura network will be spared from a mining project ”.

According to Carlos Seixas, the government proposal “always speaks in a can be and never says, definitively, what are the impediments”.

“It always leaves open the possibility of doing it wherever it is. It does not give any possibility for the population, or even the city councils, to take a position, for example, when it comes to a public tender ”, he maintained.

For the official, the consultation process now concluded is “just a proforma” and guaranteed that the civic movement “will always be attentive, so as not to miss any detail”.

“Our position is as clear as water. We will not accept any puncture in the Serra d’Arga, or next to the Serra d’Arga, without being consulted and without having a say. When I speak of us, it is not us, the movement. I speak we, the population. We want to have an active voice on the future of our region ”, he stressed.

Carlos Seixas also criticized the “way of acting” of the Ministry of the Environment, pointing to the example of the roadmap for the presentation of the basic principles of the new mining law to the municipalities of the territories directly covered and which was announced in January by the Assistant Secretary of State and of Energy, João Galamba.

“The Minister of the Environment and the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy said that they were going to do a round of presentation of the new mining law, but they didn’t even do that. Suddenly, a draft decree-law is thrown at everyone, including city councils, without presenting anything to anyone. There is no dialogue. There is nothing. It is a way of doing politics that is not understood, it makes absolutely no sense. People just aren’t out of the process because we don’t let things go unnoticed. Otherwise, we would be out of a process that has a huge impact on our lives ”, he specified.

In June, the Secretary of State for Energy affirmed that the law that regulates the environmental rules regarding lithium prospecting is “ready” and “should be approved by the Council of Ministers soon”, and the public tender is subsequently launched.

“The law is being approved, it should be approved by the Council of Ministers soon. It is already ready and, as we have always said, and as the minister has said, the contest will be launched after the law is approved ”, said João Galamba.

The Secretary of State for Energy pointed out that the launch of the public tender for the allocation of exploration rights for lithium and associated minerals will be carried out “following the publication of the law”.

“The lithium contest, as we said, will come out when the law is published,” he said.

The Government wants to create a ‘cluster’ of lithium and the battery industry in 2020 and will launch a public tender for the allocation of lithium exploration rights in nine areas of the country.

The Serra d’Arga, Barro / Alvão, Seixo / Vieira, Almendra, Barca Dalva / Canhão, Argemela, Guarda, Segura and Maçoeira areas must be covered.

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