A preliminary, free and informed consultation must be carried out by the state in the community of Escaleras, in the province of Azuay, for the Loma Larga (formerly Quimsacocha) mining project, in accordance with the ruling of the Second Specialized Court of Civil and Commercial Law. The Council of the Provincial Court of Justice of that province.
The project is managed by Canadian company Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), which indicated that it had received clarification on the permitting process for the project and that it would “work with the Government” to work on the development of the consultation, “which the company had already planned as part of the development project”. In addition, it will “maintain open and transparent communication channels” with interested parties.
Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals will invest $419 million in the Cristal concession for the Loma Larga project in Azuay
On Monday, August 28, the Azuaya Court ruled on the protection action filed by the Federation of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations of Azuaya, the Board of Drinking Water of the Parishes of Victoria del Portete and Tarqui, the Community of Escaleras and the Water Directorate of the San Gerardo Irrigation Company, against Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, in which they stated that the plaintiff’s appeal is “partially accepted” and that “the first-instance decision is confirmed as soon as it is concluded that the right to prior consultation has been violated.
Likewise, in the decision, the Court concluded that the state department “did not respect the content of Articles 71 and 72 of the Constitution” and that it “violated the constitutional rights provided for in Articles 411 and 412”, which is why “it must carry out the environmental consultation provided for in Article 398 of the Constitution before issuing the environmental permit for the next phase of the project”.
Article 398 states that: “Any decision or state approval that could affect the environment must be consulted with the community, which will be informed extensively and in a timely manner. The subject of consultation will be the state. The law will regulate prior consultation, citizen participation, deadlines, the subject of consultation, and criteria for evaluating and objecting to the activity that is the subject of consultation.
In addition, “if the above-mentioned consultation procedure results in the majority opposition of the community in question, the decision to implement or not to implement the project will be made by a properly reasoned decision by the corresponding higher administrative body in accordance with the law.”
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In this context, the Court ordered four compensation measures before continuing the administrative procedures for the next phases of the mining project, among them that the Ministry of the Environment submit reports on the “current state of the Quimsacocha National Recreation Area”. ” and another that “deals with the sustainability of the ecosystem and how to guarantee the order of priority in the use and exploitation of water…”.
As for the prior, free and informed consultation, the judgment indicates that “it will be carried out and implemented by the competent state portfolios for environmental and water issues, the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources, the protection of human rights and the decentralized autonomous government to correspond, in the community of Escaleras, with based in the province of Azuay, the canton of Cuenca, the parishes of Victoria del Portete and Tarqui”.
For its part, the Canadian company said it will “continue to implement the highest applicable standards for environmental protection and stakeholder engagement, and will work with the Government to develop next steps for consultation activities.”
In addition, he indicated that based on the extensive environmental work that has been done so far, he will work with the Ministry of Environment to provide additional details as soon as possible. “The company will maintain open and transparent communication channels with all interested parties, within the framework of its corporate purpose: to transform resources and generate shared value for all,” he added.
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Source: Eluniverso
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