During the day this Monday and through a statement, the senator of the Antofagasta region, Esteban Velásquez, and the deputy of Atacama, Jaime Mulet, referred to Codelco’s decision and the Government’s announcement regarding the closure of the Ventanas Smelter .
In that sense, they indicated that “we value the Government’s decision to prioritize people’s health and the preservation of the environment over polluting production.”
“The evidence of the environmental damage that seriously affects the inhabitants of the Concón-Puchuncaví-Quintero industrial park and its surroundings is irrefutable. Thus, the decision to close the Smelter is based on the recognition that Codelco Ventanas is co-responsible for the environmental catastrophe. This confession, so exceptional in business activity and that makes the State responsible, should not release the rest of the industries that contribute to environmental damage,” they argued.
“Windows is one of a set of 15 polluting industries and its closure does not guarantee that new events of the same severity or those that have occurred in recent days will not occur,” they added.
On the other hand, the parliamentarians valued the decision of the Executive to guarantee the employment of the workers of Ventanas and stated that it is necessary “to ensure compliance with the legal obligation of Codelco Ventanas to smelt and refine the small and medium mining that operates with Enami.
“As parliamentarians from mining areas, we are deeply concerned that Codelco has not announced, together with the closing of Ventanas, the decision to build a new and modern non-polluting smelter, without harming people’s health and environment,” they pointed out.
“By not committing Codelco to replace Ventanas with a new smelter, it transforms the closure into an indirect privatization, since the concentrate that Ventanas will not smelt, will be smelted by a private party outside or inside Chile and without guaranteeing better environmental conditions,” they added.
In this sense, they argued that “Chile cannot continue exporting sub-raw material, copper concentrate. Our country must aspire to add value to the mere extractive activity, both for strategic reasons and for economic and environmental reasons, and propose a strategy for mining more green”.
“We have well-founded concern that those who run Codelco today, its president Mr. Pacheco, some directors and divisional managers, may drag the Government to make hasty and partial decisions that may have covert intentions, including privatizing or jibarizing Codelco. We believe that the Government should socialize this type of decision more, especially in the social and political moment we are going through,” they concluded.
