The social debt of San Juan and its low levels of human development do not match the wealth and productivity of the territory and the nobility of its people. Far from the center, the most distant peripheries reproduce in all their harshness the inequalities of a society in which well-being is a reflection and consequence of power.
Its environmental challenges cannot be postponed. Slash and burn conuquismo has deforested the upper basins, threatening water sustainability; the cost of fertilizers and the intensive use of pesticides makes the agrarian model decrease and is sustained by the impoverishment of its human component: the perverse cycle of poverty is recreated.
Territorial ordering is needed; implement a local economic development plan based on the potential and challenges of the province that goes beyond planting and harvesting; add value to your products; take advantage of the ecotourism potential and cultural diversity with creative industries, etc.
At this crossroads, whose solution is not in sight in the short and medium term for obvious budgetary reasons, the discovery of the El Romero gold deposit, of more than three million ounces, may represent, more than a problem, a golden opportunity. … literally.
There are legitimate doubts. Past mining practices have left a bitter taste in other places with unremedied environmental impacts, episodes of violence, and few improvements in the quality of life of the surrounding people. Meanwhile, environmental awareness has risen and social mobility is increasing at the same time that people are suspicious of any mining project and distrust a State that left for decades, while collecting royalties that it did not transfer to the communities.
El Romero could represent a turning point in the mining development of the country, not only because of the type of mining he would carry out, but also because of his voluntary proposal to have -additional to the 5% established by law for the local government- 8% of royalties to be managed by the community members through a governance instrument based on transparency, accountability and provincial development priorities.
Now it's time for the government to authorize a rigorous Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to determine its feasibility and relevance; that the Ministry of the Environment draw up robust ToRs, and that the Academy of Sciences, universities and environmental NGOs can participate in their formulation and evaluation phase.
Opposing the EIA is unscientific, arbitrary, and violates our constitutional framework and the rule of law.
https://listindiario.com/puntos-de-vista/2022/11/24/749705/san-juan-tiene-una-oportunidad-de-oro