Government of Pedro Castillo promises to review water licenses

The President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo Terrones, and his ministers promised to attend to the claims for the water licenses of the Southern mining company in the province of Candarave, to deal with the food crisis by delivering low-cost fertilizers to farmers and to guarantee the execution of emblematic works trapped by budget issues.

Yesterday, the XVI Decentralized Session of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers took place at the Modesto Basadre school. The first part of the session was held in the morning, without the presence of Castillo, who arrived in Tacna in the afternoon.

The district and provincial mayors took the floor, warning of the same thing: the soon arrival of a food crisis due to the rise in fertilizers. In particular, the mayors of the Andean areas warned that thousands of families that are dedicated only to agriculture could lose their livelihood.

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The Minister of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, Andrés Alencastre Calderón, announced that the Government will have a total of 210 tons of island guano in stock this week, which will be distributed in all departments. In addition, the government will provide low-cost urea to farmers.

“We are doing the registration to distribute the urea in August to agricultural units of less than five hectares (…) we will also talk about organic fertilizers,” said the Minister of Agriculture.

Agro versus mine

The district mayors of the province of Candarave requested the review of the water licenses of the Southern Peru mining company in their territory. They insisted that the dialogue table opened by the government in 2020 has had no results.

Prime Minister Aníbal Torres Vásquez asserted that currently the water has been monopolized by the mining sector, leaving the agricultural sector without that resource. “We are not against mining but mining has to be carried out without harming agriculture (…) it is necessary that the mining company (Southern) be integrated into the dialogue table to solve this problem. There is no water, the lagoons are drying up. I am not an agronomist, but common sense tells me that water is life. “said the premier.

He also argued that mining companies can build dams in the high Andean areas, so that they provide themselves with water without harming farmers.

For his part, the regional governor Juan Tonconi requested strategies for economic reactivation, the increase in canon and mining royalties for 5 years, the financing of the regional hospital, the double road to Boca del Río, the conclusion of the drinking water plant and modifications in the Free Trade Zone law to optimize its industrial development. Castillo announced that he will convene the congress of the republic to discuss the agrarian problem, leaving aside the quarrels that exist between both powers. He also pointed out that a binational cabinet will be held in Chile, where border issues will be addressed, referring to economic reactivation. He called on other neighboring countries to discuss migration and its effects.

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