In the midst of the tension that exists between the Government and the indigenous organizations, given the announcements of mobilizations that began yesterday with the march for Women’s Day, the Ministry of the Environment called for a pre-legislative consultation to reform the regulations of the Environmental Code , which aggravates the situation.
According to Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), behind this call from the Government there is an intention to unblock the execution of projects, especially mining, that have not been able to be carried out because they do not have environmental licenses, whose regulation it is established in the regulation of the Environmental Consultation that is sought to be reformed.
Yesterday, within the framework of the marches that took place in Quito, CONAIE filed before the Constitutional Court a claim of unconstitutionality of Executive Decree 604, with which the Government established the rules for the execution of the pre-legislative consultation, with which, According to the leader, it seeks to make way for 11 mining projects.
It should be remembered that the Constitution of Montecristi established that both the Executive and the Legislature must consult the communities, peoples or nationalities, prior to the approval of regulations that affect their rights, whether or not they agree with the law or the regulation. proposed, on which they may submit their contributions or criteria; however, the result of this process is not binding; that is, the authorities do not have the obligation to include it in the standard.
For the current process of reforming the regulations of the Environmental Code, the pre-legislative consultation started on March 6 and will end on April 18, 2023; During this period, the communities may submit their contributions via email or deliver them personally to the offices of the Ministry of the Environment and their zonal addresses.
Businessmen
The Chamber of Mining ruled in favor of the Government’s decision to begin carrying out pre-legislative consultations, as this leaves the rules clear for this industry, which has seen several projects paralyzed due to the absence of this mechanism and the Prior Consultation Law , which has not yet been prepared by the National Assembly.
“As a responsible industry, we comply with and respect all the regulations in force in the country and we see as positive any action that is aimed at strengthening it for the good of Ecuadorians,” the Chamber of Mining said in a statement.
“CONAIE’s position is unintelligible”
For Fernando Benalcázar, an expert on the mining issue, the CONAIE position of requesting the unconstitutionality of Decree 604 is unintelligible, since with this the Government only complied with what it offered to end the national strike of June 2022.
“The pre-legislative consultation was born from a need that was established in the peace agreements, for the Environmental Consultation and the Free and Informed Prior Consultation; the president, in response to that, issued Decree 604, which they now oppose, which is unacceptable,” Benalcázar said.
According to the expert, by the time the process of issuing environmental licenses in the country is unlocked, the execution of at least 100 projects will be given free rein, not only mining, but also oil and electricity generation, those that were paralyzed.
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3 mining projects: La Plata, Curipamba and Loma Larga, are paralyzed for lack of an environmental license.
20 From March to April 18, it is the deadline for communities to submit their observations to the Environmental Code that is being reformed.
100 mining, oil and electricity generation projects are paralyzed pending environmental registration.
Quito.- (ASM)-(I)