The Chamber of Montalegre will take precautionary measures to stop lithium exploration in the municipality, the municipality announced this Wednesday, referring to one of the projects at the heart of the investigation that on Tuesday led to the resignation of the prime minister.
The information was provided to Lusa by the president of the municipality in the north of Vila Real, Fatima Fernandez.
“We are going to file an administrative claim and a precautionary measure to stop exploration at the Romano mine,” said the Socialist mayor, recalling that the municipality is against the Lusorecursos project.
Regarding the investigation made public on Tuesday that led to the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa, Fátima Fernández said she has “full confidence in the justice system”, which she believes will “get its way and investigate everything that is necessary.” investigated.”
The investigation targets lithium exploration concessions in the Romano (Montalegre) and Barroso (Boticas, also in Vila Real district) mines, a hydrogen energy plant project in Sines (Setúbal district) and a “data center” project developed in the Industrial -logistics zone “Science” of the company “Start Campus”.
Two mining projects received favorable Environmental Impact Declarations (DIA), but subject to compensatory and mitigation measures.
Fatima Fernandez clarified that the lawsuit is aimed at preventing the Romano mine from moving to the exploration stage.
“Because we believe that there is material that allows us to carry out this administrative action, and because we really believe that this is a project that does not bring anything good to our territory,” he explained.
The mayor pointed to the “very negative” impact on water from the Alto Rabagao Dam, a facility she considered important both for public consumption and for feeding animals and irrigating fields.
In addition, he pointed out the need to protect the Iberian wolf, considered it nonsense to “destroy nature in the name of the environment,” and also stated that “it cannot be considered normal to evict” people living in the area where the mine will be located. built.
“And we have a much larger project, which is the fact that we are an Agricultural World Heritage Site. Yes, this is something that can project us into the future, we are sure of it,” he defended himself.
The Romano lithium mine received a favorable DIA permit from the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency (APA) on September 7, which obliges it to provide “royalties” to the municipality of Montalegre, compensatory measures for the local population and to minimize the number of the Iberian wolf.
Lusorecursos has already stated that it intends to begin exploration of the deposits in 2027.
The Montalegre Com Vida association, created to fight mining, said the investigation published on Tuesday “casts doubt on the entire fairness of the procedure for granting the lithium exploration concession in Montalegre.”
For this reason, he demanded that the competent authorities “act accordingly and cancel the entire process.”
From the outset, the association pointed out the “opacity” of the process.
The Romano mining concession was signed on March 28, 2019 between the Directorate General of Energy and Geology (DGEG) and Lusorecursos Portugal Lithium, a company created three days before the contract was signed.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister asked the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to resign, who accepted the application, after the State Ministry reported that the head of government was the subject of an independent Supreme Court investigation into the case. lithium and hydrogen projects.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has convened the parties for a round of hearings at the Belem Palace in Lisbon this Wednesday and will meet with the Council of State on Thursday.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.