▲ The project of the subsidiary of the Swiss-German consortium Proman will put fish production in Ahome, Sinaloa at risk, the protesters said.Photo Alfredo Dominguez
Jared Laurels
Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, November 23, 2022, p. fifteen
Faced with the environmental damage that the ammonia plant would cause in the Ohuira bay, in the municipality of Ahome, members of the Yoreme ethnic group from Sinaloa held a rally in front of the German embassy in Mexico City to demand the relocation of the project that the company Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente (GPO), a subsidiary of the Swiss-German consortium Proman, intends to build.
They were attended by Minister-Counselor Mirko Schilbach, deputy head of mission of the German embassy in Mexico, who received documentation from the representatives of the original peoples in which they expose their problems. The diplomat promised to hand it over to the competent authorities of his country for review of the case.
“We know and we are informed that Proman has consulted with all the Mexican, federal, state, and community authorities in the region (…), but if they have their written opinion, I will receive it and pass it on to Proman and the German authorities to review,” he said. the minister in a brief conversation with the activists outside the embassy.
Felipe Montaño Valenzuela, traditional indigenous governor of Ohuira – a town located in Ahome – and spokesman for the advisory council of the Yoreme-Mayo nation, clarified that in the consultation ordered by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) in September In the past, 15 towns participated in the process, but they are communities that are not in the radius of affectation
environmental.
He specified that the localities of Juan José Ríos, Lázaro Cárdenas, Ohuira and Paredones rejected the GPO project to continue and it is these indigenous peoples who have launched a legal fight for nine years to demand respect for their rights, international treaties and their customs. and customs.
The Yoreme leader denied that the consultation with the native peoples had been prior, free and informed. He even denounced that under corruption of federal, state and municipal governments
they have violated the rights of indigenous peoples by making decisions contrary to what was determined by the traditional authorities.
He stressed that the communities are not opposed to progress, but are proposing the relocation of the fertilizer plant.
With banners, banners and a loudspeaker, the activists and the Sinaloa Despierta ¡Aquí No! collective, pointed out that the company has already destroyed 28 hectares of mangroves, out of 206 contemplated in the Environmental Impact Statement.
They denounced that the project would have the capacity to produce 2,200 metric tons of ammonia per day -with a storage of 75,000 tons of chemicals-, which would put at risk the fishing production in the Topolobampo bay, municipality of Ahome, activity of the on which 4,000 people depend who have dedicated themselves to the capture of shrimp and oysters, among other marine species.
