Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has still not repaired the environmental damage caused in Bosque Panul
On June 21 of this year, several machines entered Bosque Panul, devastating 250 meters of a fully healthy ravine. The community that protects the forest managed to immediately halt the works. The following day, the MOP authorities in charge acknowledged the serious environmental damage their actions had caused, hiding behind the fact that it was carried out under the national "ravine cleaning" policy and, in particular, at the request of La Florida's mayor, Rodolfo Carter. Fernando Soto, the MOP's Regional Secretary (SEREMI) for the Metropolitan Region, committed to repairing the damage, but this commitment has still not been fulfilled — even after the community officially handed him a complete technical report on how to do so.
Four months ago, the Ministry of Public Works destroyed 250 meters of a fully stabilized ravine, located at the entrance of Bosque Panul.
This work was carried out under the national "ravine cleaning" policy, implemented by the Intendancy, the MOP, and some municipalities across the country, in which one of the methods requested is the use of heavy machinery.
What is extraordinary is that the ravine intervened in Bosque Panul (Quebrada Las Tinajas) was not included in the original cleaning plan proposed by the Intendancy and the MOP — it was added later at the request of La Florida's mayor, Rodolfo Carter.
The cleaning operation removed everything found in the watercourse (trees, shrubs, rocks, fauna, etc.), intervening in a stable and complex native ecosystem and increasing the risks in the event of natural disasters. It is also important to note that the contracting company acted with unusual haste, completing 20% of the work in a single day when it had 60 days to do so.
The same authorities, during an on-site visit, acknowledged that the ravine did not need the treatment it had received, and that the cleaning could have been done manually.
Seeing this destruction (which was certified by CONAF), the community did not hesitate to act, and managed to halt the works. Subsequently, a complete technical report was drawn up proposing how to reverse the damage caused and clean what remains of the healthy ravine — a report that was officially handed to the MOP. Download report (3.3MB)
For its part, the MOP's Metropolitan SEREMI, Fernando Soto, committed to cleaning the part of the ravine that was not cleaned, and to repairing the damage caused in the already-intervened section, in accordance with the parameters and technical proposals submitted by the community — a commitment that he has still not fulfilled.
These regrettable environmental harms occur because the community that knows the territory is not included in decision-making — instead, these are decisions made by technocrats behind closed doors.
Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera, October 2017
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