Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Infrastructure Plan Ignores Town

By - - and IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 20 2010 (IPS) - Residents of a town of 400 people in the northeastern Argentine province of Chaco faced repression and legal charges for their opposition to an electrical transmission line through their community. “We aren't against the line itself, but we are asking that they alter its course a little,” Hugo Besga, resident of Lote 16, a farming community founded 115 years ago, told Tierramérica.

The townspeople charge that the project — an electroduct of 500 megawatts from the LINSA company — would potential harm a nearby protected area, La Pilarense. “They are clearing all the land for the powerline towers,” said Besga.

The project's environmental impact study ignored the very presence of the town. But this month the company sued the residents, and police burst in on a community meeting, arresting several people. “They aimed their weapons at us — it was a tremendous outrage,” said the resident.