Peru’s Executive will meet with representatives from regional governments, civil society organizations and the Defensoria del Pueblo, the country’s ombudsman, to discuss two legislative decrees aimed to facilitate private investment in over 30 projects.
“We will bring together various institutions and the first meeting will be held on Monday at 8:30 am in the Justice Ministry,” state news agency Andina reported Environment Minister Antonio Brack as saying.
Urgent Decrees 001 and 002 were announced in January and seek to facilitate private investment in 33 projects that are declared a “national necessity.” Critics have pointed out that the decrees allow the projects to bypass environmental permits normally required for approval.
Brack pointed out that firms will still need to conduct an environmental impact study for the projects.
However, opponents have pointed out that the EIS will not be required for project approval.
Ombudsman Beatriz Merino and Congressman Yonhy Lescano have called the decrees unconstitutional and the latter has said he would work to repeal them by garnering the necessary support of 30 legislators.
On Thursday, the National Assembly of Regional Governments also called for the decrees to be repealed because they could lead to social conflicts and environmental pollution. A large number of social protests currently monitored by the country’s Ombudsman are due to communities perceiving threats of projects on which they have not been consulted.
“The board of directors [of the national assembly]… has analyzed the decrees and reached the conclusion that they are harmful for regions, because they don’t consult regional and, even less, local governments for the development of the projects,” said Vladimir Cerron, the head of the assembly and president of central Peru’s Junin region.
The projects include, among others, a long-debated proposal for an international airport in Chinchero, Cusco, a port in the jungle city of Iquitos, and a petroleum hub in Piura’s Bayovar province.
Another project is that of a minerals dock at the port of Callao, which is being questioned by retired Adm. Jorge Montoya, former head of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces. The minerals pipeline project, which includes a multipurpose loading dock, will crowd existing port facilities, Montoya told Rosa Maria Palacios of Prensa Libre, and hamper the exit of merchant and naval ships from the port in the event of an emergency. The legislation also permits taking over naval space in the port.
