The protest organized by the Parar O Gás platform at the REN liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the port of Sines (Setúbal), which was attended by more than 150 people, ended around 20:30 without incident.
According to the group’s press secretary, Catarina Viegas, this decision is justified by the various actions carried out this Saturday by the demonstrators, who “declared victory” at the end of the day.
“As a result of the actions we took today, the gas valve was closed and therefore we decided to stop the action,” the person in charge explained in statements to the Lusa agency.
Initially, the activist group announced that it would extend the protest overnight to try to prevent a possible “flow of gas both by sea and by land” at the Rede Elétrica Nacional (REN) LNG terminal.
“In the meantime, we have gathered all the different fronts of the blockade and have decided that the goals have been achieved and we are giving up the two gates” for access to the liquefied natural gas terminal, where they have been since 13:30, he added.
The protest, which was attended by more than 150 demonstrators, began two hours late, around 11:30 am, because, according to the organization, the buses they were in were stopped and searched by the NDP during “stop” operations near Sines.
Dressed in white suits, “sort of combat uniforms,” they explained to reporters, the activists held posters demanding climate justice and phasing out fossil fuels, chanting “Gas is death, death is gas.”
Around 1:30 p.m., a group of ten activists chained themselves to the gates of the infrastructure’s main entrance to “physically block” its operation and warn of the need to “reduce the use of a non-renewable fossil resource.” said Lusa Ana Maria Valinho.
At 6:40 p.m., a young woman from Lisbon was still there with a “bike lock” around her neck, and next to her were other young people with “small pipes” in their hands with the phrase “Stop the gas”, resisting access. to the main door of the terminal, under the watchful eye of the authorities.
In the afternoon, some Greenpeace activists and supporters of the Stop the Gas platform “blocked the entrance to the port of Sines from the sea using boats and their own bodies in the water,” according to a spokesperson for the platform.
“Despite the intervention of the police, we managed to bypass the police,” he said.
However, a source from the Sines Maritime Police told Lusa that the port of Sines is “operating as usual, without any restrictions.”
The action calls for an end to the use of fossil gas for electricity generation and for the production of this electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.