Although the appearance was to talk about environmental pollution in the Amazon, Minister Sade Fritschi dedicated a few minutes to refer to the Olón issue.
The Minister of the Environment, Sade Fritschi, during her appearance at the Biodiversity Commission of the National Assembly, on May 9, 2024.
The Minister of the Environment, Sade Fritschi, arrived on May 9, 2024, at the Biodiversity Commission of the National Assembly, but not to talk about her management in the delivery of permits for the construction of a real estate project in Olón, Santa Elena. .
The reason for his presence in the Legislature was to explain the role of the Ministry in his charge in the remediation, compensation and compensation plans for the pollution generated by spills and flares, which are used in oil extraction in the Amazon.
The truth is that Fristchi’s arrival caused an unusual movement in the commission. Members of the legislative escort controlled the entry of people and prevented the press from entering the session room until the minister entered.
Fritschi arrived escorted by police and was barely seen. She entered the Biodiversity offices and was immediately placed in an adjacent office, something also unusual, because generally all those appearing remain in the session listening to the interventions.
Collaborators of the Assembly presidency entered and left the commission, apparently coordinating and giving instructions to the president of the table, Guido Vargas, recently separated from the Social Christian Party (PSC) bloc.
The first to intervene was the manager of Petroecuador, Marcela Reinoso, who assured that more than 140 lighters were removed. It was refuted by Amazonian legislators, who assured that these continue to operate and pollute. “We are in the same situation,” said Celestino Wisum.
But the expectation was focused on Fritschi. For this reason, the provision that the police who provide security in the Legislature received was to keep the press as far away as possible from the Minister of the Environment.
By decision of the plenary session of the Assembly, Fritschi will soon have to appear before the plenary session to explain the construction of a real estate project of a company whose main shareholder is Lavinia Valvonesi, wife of President Daniel Noboa.
Fritschi spoke for less than two minutes
Around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, the Minister appeared, accompanied by the head of the legislative escort, to talk about the issue of the appearance.
Regarding the Lighters in the Amazon case, Fritschi barely spoke for two minutes, pointing out that the government “has complied and has taken the necessary steps for environmental remediation.”
Then he said that the vice minister of the branch, Edgar Heredia, will give the respective explanations. The latter bothered the legislators who asked that Fritschi be the one to answer the questions raised.
But Vargas, the head of the commission, added that the Vice Minister is capable of responding to the technical part of the appearance.
Given this, assemblyman Jaime Moreno, from Construye, described Vargas’ justification as unacceptable and appealed his presidency of the commission. This caused the suspension of the session until the appeal is resolved by vote.
However, there were no votes to remove Vargas from the presidency, who took it back and continued the tone of the appearance: the Minister speaking for a few minutes and delegating the technical part to her vice ministers.
The Minister of Health, Franklin Encalada, and the president of the Judiciary Council, Álvaro Román, were also called to this commission, who sent their delegates.
The Olón issue entered the debate
In the middle of the tense session, the legislator for Construye, Jorge Peñafiel, questioned Minister Fritschi for the delivery of the environmental permit to the company’s real estate project, in which Valbonesi appears as the main shareholder.
The president of the commission, Guido Vargas, tried again, as in almost the entire session, to protect the official by arguing that this issue was not the subject of the call and that it would be the plenary session that would listen to the minister.
But Fritschi decided to answer: “I can tell you that there is no mystery, that a license takes at least six months to be issued and an environmental registration can be issued in two days.”
The Minister pointed out that in five months the Environment Portfolio has issued more than 1,700 environmental permits, around 21 environmental licenses, more than 300 environmental registrations and approximately 1,400 certificates.
The session continued with complaints from legislators, in the sense that the minister was not responding to what was being asked and Vargas’ justifications saying that she could send the information in writing.
Without much more to say, the official stood up and left the commission, leaving Vice Minister Heredia to respond to the concerns of the legislators, who were no longer in the mood to listen to the subordinate’s “repetitive” answers.
After that, the delegate of the Minister of Health was received, who did not have the material ready for his presentation, so Vargas decided to suspend the meeting.
