PETITION – MANIFEST FOR THE TUA VALLEY: ACCOUNT ON THE MAIN EVENTS
Suspension of the construction works of the Foz Tua dam voted out by PSD, CDS and PS
The “Manifest for the Tua Valley” was brought before the Portuguese Parliament on June 27th of 2013 with 5.484 signatures and was aaccepted as Petition n. 274/XII/2ª. However, it is still online and has collected the support of over 7. 300 people. The petitioners demand:
- a) Stop immediately de construction works of the Foz Tua dam;
- b) Revoke the Ordinance n. 251/2012 that provides €300 million in subsidies non-refundable to the electric companies to build new dams;
- c) Reopen the classification procedure of the Tua Railway Line as a Monument of National Interest.
The Manifest was debated in Plenary on January 8th, at 3.00 pm, in the Portuguese Parliament. The main arguments of the several parliamentarian groups may be seen here.
Following this petition, the parliamentarian groups can present legal initiatives about this matter. Thus, the political parties Bloco de Esquerda and Os Verdes have proposed to stop the construction of the Foz Tua dam by:
A – Draft Resolution nº 1206/XII/4ª (Os Verdes)
B – Draft Law nº 511/XII/3.ª (Bloco de Esquerda)
The voting of these documents was on January 9th, with the following results:
A – Draft Resolution nº 1206/XII/4ª (Os Verdes)
Proposes the Portuguese Government to:
1 – Suspend immediately the construction works of the Foz Tua Hydroelectric Project.
2 – Presente to the Portuguese Parliament a report with the obligations that EDP was bound, regarding the public tender, the contract and EIS, and also with the state of art of this obligations.
3 – Make a study about the influence of the dams over the coastal erosion in Portugal, in particular of the dams existing and those planned in the Douro basin.
Point 1
CDS, PSD , PS – Voted against
Verdes, BE , PCP – Voted in favour
Ana Paula Vitorino (PS) – Abstained
Point 2, 3
CDS , PSD – Voted against
Verdes, BE, PCP, PS – Voted in favour
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B – Draft Law nº 511/XII/3.ª (Bloco de Esquerda)
Immediate suspension of the construction works of the Foz Tua dam
BE, PCP, VERDES – Voted in favour
PS, PSD, CDS – Voted against
Ana Paula Vitorino (PS) – Abstained
This was the 3th petition brought forward by the citizens to stop the construction of the Foz Tua dam. Regrettably, the majority of the deputies has took the decision of ignoring the public interest and give in to the pressure made by EDP, the construction companies and the banks allowing the social, cultural, ecological and economic disaster to continue.
The Platform Save the Tua will continue to defend the important values that exist in the Tua Valley: the river, the ecosystem, the Tua Railway Line and all the potential that this assets have for the local development, specially for the railway and nature tourism as well as eco-tourism, wine-tourism and cultural tourism. We want to enhance unique assets this region has, which are part of the Alto Douro Wine Region, an the Tua is within.
In the next weeks the Platform Save the Tua will take new legal actions before court to stop the recently approved high power voltage line, whose alignment is illegal regarding the restrictions that had been set and is contrary to Unesco recommendations.
Let’s Save the Tua Valley and the Douro. We don’t give up. We are counting on you.