Ecobreves – CHILE: Ecologists Demand Land Regulation

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Aug 23 2004 (IPS) - The non-governmental organization Sustainable Chile is calling on the Ricardo Lagos government to implement territorial regulation based on national development goals, and has demanded the withdrawal of a parliamentary bill that would deregulate territorial planning that favors market interests. Sustainable Chile director Sara Larraín told a seminar with lawmakers last week that the reforms of the Urbanism and Construction Act would destroy ''any possibility for strategic planning and regulation'' of Chilean territory and would benefit a real estate focus based on profits.

The reforms centralize the territorial use decisions in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and takes away the authority of other key entities, like the ministries of agriculture and planning, the farming and livestock service and the national forestry commission, she said.

''Planning of national territory by the (Ministry of) Housing is obviously a mistake, and contradicts any notion of development. We are taking a step in the wrong direction from the perspective of decentralized and inter-disciplinary planning,'' said Larraín.