By

Francisco Leal Matthew

Asocars

As a consequence of exercising its function as environmental authority, several Regional Autonomous and Sustainable Development Corporations became the object of threats and pressure; This was announced by the Board of Directors of ASOCARS, gathered in Bogotá.

The Board of Directors of the Association of Regional Autonomous Corporations and Sustainable Development, ASOCARS; meeting this week in Bogotá, reported threats against the physical integrity of officials for exercising environmental authority in their jurisdictions, linked to the fight against illegal mining.

Although no specific cases were reported, for fear of possible retaliation, The directors expressed their total rejection of these acts that threaten people's lives and the constitutional foundations of environmental protection..

“The actions carried out and executed by each Regional Autonomous Corporation in the exercise of their functions as environmental authority, in the regions; It is always framed based on the Political Constitution, the decree 2811 of 1974, the Natural Resources Code, the law 99 of 1993 and other complementary regulations”, explained Ramón Leal Leal, executive director of ASOCARS. “This exercise entails, on some occasions, make decisions of high impact on public and private developments of the local order, regional or national, which causes most of the time, functional incomprehension of the interest groups involved with the sanctioned activity”, argument.

Likewise, during the development of the ASOCARS Board of Directors, It was clarified that pressure is also being exerted on corporations through the filing of disciplinary complaints, criminal and tax, without sufficient arguments to justify them by private sector companies that are subject to environmental control. As a strategy to delegitimize the corporation, even before completing the sanctioning processes.

The Board of Directors, at the same time, He called on CAR officials to make known to the competent authorities the pressures to which they are being subjected in the fight against illegal mining.. Likewise, through this communication, The Board of Directors of ASOCARS calls on the Armed Forces and in particular the National Police to be alert to possible attacks on officials and the physical infrastructure of the Corporations..

Therefore, and given that in recent months several Regional Autonomous Corporations have enhanced and made visible the exercise of environmental authority in specific actions and high-impact operations, with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Armed Forces and judicial bodies, It is pertinent and timely to call for a security plan to be established around the Corporations., because after the operations the corporation is left alone in the region.

The Board of Directors of ASOCARS confirms that the illegal actions of which the Corporations have been subject, by different actors, does not diminish the capabilities and competencies to fulfill the duties and functions ordered by the Constitution and Colombian legislation; on the contrary, consolidates and unifies the will and civil value that must characterize public servants regarding compliance with Colombian environmental policy.