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Portugal Resident's top reporter Natasha Donn has been in touch with the Euro MP José Faria in advance of the 'Oil vs Tourism' debate this coming Friday, May 13th to gague the level of enthusiasm of the various authorities involved in this hot topic.
The result of her research is saddening. Donn posted an article today, titled "Euro MP exposes authorities’ “total lack of willingness” to engage in Algarve oil debate" which reads:
A Portuguese Euro MP travelling to the Algarve on Friday to promote debates on the rights and wrongs of oil exploration and the ins and outs of Brexit has spoken out over the “total lack of willingness of authorities to engage” - particularly over the issue of on- and offshore oil exploration.
Despite the fact that every Algarve mayor is said to be against oil drilling in the Algarve, only two have committed to showing up for the morning event on May 13 at the Auditório do Museu, on the Portimão riverside.
The energy minister, president of national fuel entity ENMC, former environment minister Jorge Moreira da Silva (the man responsible for awarding controversial onshore licences to a company that did not comply with ‘minimum requirements’), even environmental association Quercus have apparently expressed their lack of availability to take part, without offering any kind of substitute representation.
“I am going to take advantage of this,” José Faria has vowed.
“I am going to go back to Brussels after the meetings - after the things we find, and the issues people raise - and I am going to push for changes.
“This isn’t simply an issue of the Algarve,” he added. “The whole of Portugal has been cordoned off for exploration without any consideration for the environment, the consequences and the populations involved.
“Almost every area of sea within Portuguese territory has been awarded to different companies, and if it wasn’t for foreign residents making a fuss, it would have all gone ahead without a murmur.
“This is wrong, and I really want to do something about it.”
Ensuring that the debate on Friday morning will not be lost on non-Portuguese speakers, Faria - the only Portuguese MEP on the European committee on the environment - will be providing interpreters “from English to Portuguese and Portuguese to English”.
As opposed to Moreira da Silva - who complained in parliament recently that opposition to oil exploration was being “led by retired foreigners who want to live in the land of the Indians” - Faria welcomes expatriate involvement, saying it is pivotal.
“The foreigners know what this is about,” he told us. “That is why we are coming down here to listen to them.”
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Natasha Donn, ©Portugal Resident, 10 May 2016.
