The Administrative Court of Cesar ruled in favor of the Attorney General’s Office and imposed a fine of five legal monthly minimum wages in force on Mello Castro González, former mayor of Valledupar, and Jorge Luis Fernández Ospino, as former director of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cesar. , Corpocesar, for not complying with the court order ordering them to protect and recover the El Eneal wetland, located in the neighborhood of the same name in Valledupar.
The Public Ministry, through the Environmental and Agrarian Judicial Prosecutor’s Office of Valledupar, reported an incident of contempt by the then officials, for failing to comply with the sentence handed down on November 28, 2005, which protected the collective rights to public space and the environment, ordering the protection and recovery of the El Eneal wetland, without any of the mayors to date complying with the provisions, a situation that has been generating contamination of the wetland and the occupation of public space.
As cited in the ruling, a visit by the Verification Committee indicated that the wetland was in terrible conditions, evidencing the existence of neighboring homes a few meters from its source that dumped their wastewater into the spring, generating bad odors and proliferation of vectors and pests.
Likewise, the report alleged that the lack of administrative and police measures by the municipal authorities and Corpocesar to mitigate the situation presented and to recover public space generated serious environmental problems for the inhabitants of the wetland sector.
Under this scenario, the Court Chamber imposed a sanction of contempt, alleging that non-compliance with the judicial order issued 18 years ago persists, also detailing that said responsible entities have shown the interest in complying with the judicial order only when they are notified of the beginning of the incident. of contempt, stating that “the existence of a true and real commitment represented in the advancement of public policies aimed at the protection and recovery of the Eneal wetland and the public space of the place is missed.”