The government's inexcusable explanation for the price of Bosque Panul
The Ministry of Housing responded to the citizen investigation carried out by Red Precordillera denouncing the government's lack of will to resolve the conflict over Bosque Panul. The MINVU justified the passivity of Intendant Claudio Orrego and defended open speculation on the price of the land in order to evade its responsibility.
The Ministry of Housing responded to the facts published in the citizen investigation carried out by Red Precordillera, denouncing the government's lack of will to resolve the conflict over Bosque Panul. The MINVU justified Intendant Claudio Orrego's conduct and defended open speculation on the price of the land in order to evade its responsibility.
The Ministry led by Paulina Saball admitted that a real appraisal of fundo Panul has still not been conducted, but maintains the speculative value at 40 billion pesos — meaning it maintains that Panul is more expensive per square meter than the residential sector in Chicureo. This is inexplicable, since MINVU itself states that housing is prohibited in the forest, which should radically lower its commercial value. According to MINVU's "estimate," the price per m² in Panul is approximately $80,000.
Many questions remain. The government does not clarify what method it used to calculate such a high price that prevents expropriation, nor does it explain why it wants the valuation documents to remain hidden. In any case, whatever MINVU decides will have a direct impact on the price of the forest. In this sense, the controversy over the value of Panul is another example of the State being used to benefit private interests, like the recent CAVAL and SOQUIMICH cases.
The capture of the State by large economic groups is becoming increasingly evident. It is urgent to intervene in the relationship between politics and money. In the case of Panul, the government absurdly inflates the price to avoid expropriating it and turning it into a public park. The Ministry of Housing must answer for evading its responsibility.
Below is MINVU's response to the investigation published by RedPrecordillera.cl
In reference to the information published by Red Cordillera about Bosque Panul, the Regional Ministry Secretariat of Housing and Urban Planning of the Metropolitan Region clarifies the following:
1.- It is completely false that the company Gesterra is in discussions with the MINVU regarding a housing project in the lower part of the native Panul forest, or in any other part of the forest or its surroundings.
2.- What is true is that in September of last year, the company Gesterra offered the Municipality of La Florida a donation of 70 hectares of the upper part of the forest it owns, in exchange for enabling a housing development in the lower part of the property — but this was completely rejected by the municipality, which chose instead to approve a new amendment to the Municipal Zoning Plan in February of this year, with the aim of restricting construction across the entire Fundo El Panul, eliminating the possibility of any housing project being developed.
3.- With this amendment approved by the Municipal Council in February of this year, any possibility of building a housing project in Fundo El Panul was foreclosed (which the previous PRC did allow). Had this amendment not been approved, the property owner could have submitted a project for approximately 800 housing units that the municipality would not have been able to legally reject.
4.- The current amended PRC limited the permitted uses of the area to commerce, worship, culture, sport, recreation, and green areas, with a maximum buildable area of 0.014 (i.e., 140 m²/hectare maximum), with a minimum subdivision of 10,000 m².
5.- The study carried out by the Municipality of La Florida referenced in the article established that the entire Fundo El Panul has high ecological value, which led municipal authorities to urgently vote for the PRC amendment and reject the offer that the company Gesterra had made to the municipality to donate 70 hectares in the upper area of the property in order to devote the lower part of the forest to a housing project.
6.- For its part, the Ministry of National Assets prepared an estimate of the land value of the property where Bosque Panul is located, which, based on a general survey and contextual analysis, established that its commercial value amounts preliminarily to approximately 40 billion pesos — which clearly inhibits any possibility of expropriation by any public body.
7.- The Regional Ministry Secretariat of Housing and Urban Planning is currently developing a study on adjustments to the Pie Andino road corridor, involving an amendment to the PRMS in several precordilleran municipalities along its route — covering the area of Bosque El Panul — which will in turn make it possible to define ecological protection zones adjacent to the route, in which the area in question is located.
Metropolitan Regional Ministry Secretariat
Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning
Source: http://metropolitana.minvu.cl/20/05/2015/aclaracion-publica-2/
The content expressed in this article is the responsibility of its original authors and does not necessarily represent the views associated with the Panul Para Todos project.
The information archived in Archivo Panul was collected using automated tools, so there may be inconsistencies between what is presented here and the original link. You can visit the original link at the top of this article.