The movement to free the Algarve of oil, MALP, is organising a vigil outside Loulé town hall for Friday May 26th
The anti-oil organisation is continuing to demand that the government changes its policy of doing everything possible to encourage the oil and gas exploration and extraction concession granted to Galp-ENI for an area off the coast of Aljezur.
The points MALP makes are that:
1. The public consultation carried out by the State was a complete farce. More than 40,000 signatories raised objections to the exploration and exploitation of oil, with only 4 people in favour of the project, yet this support was not taken into account when the government decided to let the consortium carry on.
2. That Prime Minister, António Costa, has not seen fit to meet and talk to the various anti-oil organisations.
3. That the Economy and Sea ministers have refused to enter into any dialogue with these groups.
4. That the DGRM did not publicise the results of the public consultation that resulted in the decision to carry on with the oil drilling off Aljezur.
5. That it should not be possible to proceed with the exploration of oil and gas off Aljezur which is an area of natural park, officially classified as an environmentally protected zone within the Costa Vicentina and is in an area with the highest seismic risk in Portugal.
MALP and its supporters will gather on Friday, May 26, at 11 am right outside Loulé town hall, where there will be an information point enable let people find out more about the risks associated with the decision by the government to authorise oil drilling, which MALP calls 'a political crime.'
MALP commented that the government persists in ignoring the will of people in the Algarve and in the Alentejo, and it insists on cozying up to the oil companies and dismissing moves for a sustainable future for current and future generations.
The government's recent behaviour over the oil and gas exploration concession throws into doubt its ethics and it understanding of the democratic process. With local elections coming up in October, many in the Algarve region will be voting against those condidates who have failed to state where they stand on the 'oil in the Algarve' problem, and those that are pro-oil. The Socialist Party may be in for some poor results.
Anti-oil association ASMAA is to produce a web page that lists each candidate up for election in October and whether individuals are for or against the government's oil ambitions that fly in the face of current alternative energy and CO2 agreements.
