The Santander Administrative Court formally opened an incident of contempt against the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad. This decision was made, explained Judge Luisa Fernanda Flores Reyes, for “The repeated breaches and delays in the delimitation of the Santurbán Páramo, disobeying an order given by the Constitutional Court more than 7 years ago“
In the court of the court, it is explained that el Muhamad’s breach of Judgment T-361 of 2017 of the Constitutional Court “It would imply that the official would be going to the detriment of the fundamental rights protected by the High Court, which could lead to millionaire economic sanctions against the minister“
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He added that the official “He has not fulfilled the established schedule, has not attended mandatory meetings and has repeatedly stated the community, which does not have the necessary budget to execute the delimitation of the wasteland, since the resources to hold the meetings of agreement and other mandatory activities stipulated by the Court have not been appropriate in the general budget of the Nation“
The Court also pointed out that the management of the minambient in the delimitation of Santurbán, in the last year, It has been ‘null’, arguing a report by the Attorney General’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office.
“The serious environmental situation in the area, marked by illegal mining and an alarming contamination by mercury in water sources, exceeding up to 40 times the allowed international limits is a direct consequence of the inaction of the authorities responsible for guaranteeing the protection of this territory“The court cited, clarifying that These accusations refer to the Ministry of Environment.
(See: The mining sector begins 2025 with an agenda marked by uncertainty).
And warned that the lack of delimitation has increased the illicit extraction of minerals in Santurbán, “Seriously affecting the water basin that supplies drinking water to the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga and aggravating informality in the region“
Santurbán
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Criticisms of the lack of delimitation of the Santurbán Páramo
The court insisted that having a seven -year delay in the process of delimitation, given the lack of consultation and planning, the postponement of meetings, and the absence of concrete measures to advance in compliance with the court ruling, The municipalities of Vetas, California, Surratá, Salazar, Arboledas, Cáchira and Bucaramanga, among others, are in suspense.
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“Thousands of peasants, farmers, traditional miners and communities, have seen their economy paralyzed for almost a decade due to the breach of the Ministry of Environment“He complemented.
In this regard, Ivonne González, Citizen Veedora and leader of the small legal veins, said that They receive with hope the incident of contempt against Muhamad and described it as ‘fair and necessary’.
“The minister has been teaching, mocking this judgment, of the communities, of the court, and of the Constitutional Court and has not wanted to comply with the delimitation that should already be solved. He tried to turn what is not dirty into a wasteland, and when he saw that he could not do it technically, he simply abandoned this process, he even wants to go back, and now he wants to impose a reserve area without arranging with more communities, violating the Escazú agreement , and based on a wrong interpretation of another sentence“The leader said.
And said they have no guarantees and Environmental decisions are being made that affect the autonomy and territorial planning of the municipalities and the department of Santander.
In that sense, the court recalled that “The control bodies have insisted on the urgency of complying with the delimitation of Santurbán before declaring norms on that territory, such as the reserve zone in seven municipalities of Soto Norte. Likewise, the Attorney General’s Office has demanded that any environmental measure be stopped, effectively complies with a clear concentration process, and a broad methodology of local participation of local communities, as stipulated in the Escazú agreement and three sentences of the Constitutional Court of the years 2014, 2017 and 2024“
(See: Judicial regulation: challenges and opportunities in mining).
“Despite having scheduled 31 work tables with communities, only six have been carried out, which has left communities in uncertainty”, Was complemented in the car.
Muhamad will have a period of five days to justify the reasons for breaches or to fulfill the established judicial orders.
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