Paraguay
Penner called for unlocking gas development in M e9danos del Chaco
The senator urged that rights granted before the creation of the national park be respected and backed a legal amendment under debate. He said environmental protection must be reconciled with productive development in the area.
Senator Penner called during the Senate’s ordinary session for the continuation of hydrocarbon-related activities in the Me9danos del Chaco area to be authorized and for the acquired rights of Primo Cano to be respected, according to RCC.
According to that outlet, the lawmaker recalled that in 1983 rights were granted for the prospecting, exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and minerals over some 40,000 hectares of the Chaco, valid until 2038. He noted that the creation of the Me9danos del Chaco National Park in 2016, covering 605,000 hectares, generated an overlap of boundaries that affected those prior permits.
Still according to RCC, Penner said the legislation should not be applied retroactively when prior authorizations exist and stressed that in those between 35,000 and 40,000 hectares the possibility of working should be maintained.
The senator also mentioned a bill being debated in the Chamber of Deputies to amend articles of the law creating the park, with the aim of safeguarding rights granted before 2016. As he argued, the initiative is not intended to weaken environmental protection, but to make it compatible with economic development.
RCC added that Penner questioned objections from technical and environmental sectors to natural gas exploitation in the region and asked the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development to find a balance between conservation and the use of energy resources.
He also stated that indigenous communities in the Chaco support productive and energy projects because of their potential to generate employment and local development. Along those lines, he defended the possibility of producing electricity with natural gas extracted in the region itself.
As a closing point, the lawmaker proposed preserving most of the Me9danos del Chaco National Park and allowing activities in the portion where, he said, rights had already been granted previously.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.
