The mayor of Montalegre, Fátima Fernandes, revealed this Monday her concern about the mining project, which she described as catastrophic, but also about the large size of the wind and photovoltaic parks proposed for the municipality.
“In addition to mining exploration, There are also other projects that concern us.not because of what they objectively are, but because of the size they present and I am referring especially to the photovoltaic parks and the new wind farms that are being seen everywhere and, especially, in the municipality of Montalegre,” said the mayor, who spoke with journalists in Boticas, after a meeting with the Environment and Energy Commission.
Fátima Fernandes said that, in the meeting with the deputies, she highlighted a concern “greater with lithium“, considering that the Romano mine project proposed by Lusorecursos Portugal Lithium “is catastrophic” for the municipality.
The mayor also took the opportunity to warn about the upcoming photovoltaic and wind farms. “There are many and they are very large.“, he stressed.
Fátima Fernandes believes that the projects proposed for the Peneda-Gerês National Park area will be rejected, however, she highlighted that there are others that are on the horizon and that are worrying, such as photovoltaic parks in the Alto Rabagão dam and also in some vacant lands. . areas.
In his opinion, parks of 90 hectares, or the equivalent of 90 football fields, “are truly excessive.”
Endesa won a floating solar auction in the Alto da Rabagão reservoir and, recently, it became known that the hybrid project that the renewable energy company Finerge wants to develop between Vieira do Minho and Montalegre, to combine floating solar energy, in the Paradela reservoir , and a small wind farm, had an unfavorable decision by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) in the environmental impact assessment.
Although there is no “absolute certainty of the environmental impacts it may have,” the president spoke of a “obstruction to the path of the sun” in that dam, considering that it is clear that “it will have negative impacts on the aquatic environment,” remembering that it is a reservoir in which the water is also for human consumption.
“There is a need for balance in these projects and it seems to us that this balance does not exist”He highlighted, explaining that, in these auction situations, the concessions are simply awarded and no opinion is sought from either the city council or the local community.
Fátima Fernandes also insisted on talking about “fiscal justice”, particularly with regard to the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) and its indirect effects.
“We demand payment of the IMI for the dams. We have three dams that are electricity production centers and it is important, in terms of tax justice, that these dams pay the IMI that corresponds to them,” he highlighted.
The mayor explained that the municipality challenged the first evaluation, which indicated an IMI value of three million euros per year, and added that the second evaluation has already been completed.
“And, therefore, it is time to notify the tax authority and this project will continue on its path,” he stated.
He also mentioned that the spill that remains in the territory “is a tiny part,” arguing that it is where wealth is produced that companies must pay this tax.
Source: Observadora
