With 84 votes, the plenary session of the Congress of the Republic rejected this Thursday, April 11, the state of Calamity decreed by the Executive Agency to combat forest fires and the one registered in the Amsa landfill; However, this provision was criticized for lack of transparency and limitation of constitutional guarantees.
The ruling party did not obtain the necessary votes for the State of Calamity decree to be approved because the deputies doubted the transparency and restrictive regulations on constitutional rights.
Last Wednesday, President Bernardo Arévalo decreed a state of Calamity for 30 days throughout the country due to fires in forests and in a garbage dump that threaten the health of the inhabitants of the capital and its surroundings.
“The State of Calamity has the purpose of confronting the fires in a more agile way,” said the president, following specifying that the decision was made in the Council of Ministers.
The governor explained that the measure seeks to strengthen “with material inputs the brigades that fight fires through the purchase of personal protective equipment and tools.”
According to the Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred), since November, 1,439 fires have been recorded, mainly forest fires, throughout the territory that have devastated 7,376 hectares.
The president regretted that 80% of the fires have been caused by people, as happened in the Villa Nueva landfill, south of the capital, where 33 municipalities deposit some 126 thousand tons of waste each month, according to authorities.
“As a Government, we reject these acts that endanger the lives of Guatemalans, because the high pollution and particles generated by combustion have adverse effects on health,” said the president.
The incident at the landfill began over the weekend and led authorities to suspend classes in schools in three departments, Escuintla, Sacatepéquez and Guatemala.
In addition, the authorities recommended avoiding exercising outdoors and leaving the house, and asked to keep doors and windows closed, and use face masks due to air pollution that reached levels harmful to health.
The Minister of Health, Oscar Cordón, stated that 205 people have been treated in hospitals due to the contamination.
“It is also important to highlight the damage that fires cause to the country’s biodiversity,” lamented the president.
Arévalo explained that the state of calamity also allows the government to “call for international collaboration of aircraft” to put out the fires more quickly.
Forest fires consume thousands of hectares in Guatemala every year. The season with the highest incidence runs from November to June due to the absence of rain.
Most fires are caused by human activities such as preparing the soil for planting, according to authorities.
With information from AFP
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