© Provided by Agencia EFE
Montevideo, Feb 1 (EFE) .- Four Uruguayan ministers appear before Parliament this Tuesday for the forest fires declared in the South American country in early January and which was suspended after two of those summoned tested positive for covid-19.
The Permanent Commission receives from 10:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT) the Ministers of the Environment, Adrián Peña; Defense, Javier Garcia; Livestock, Agriculture and Fishing, Fernando Mattos, and the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber.
Initially, the ministers had been called to appear on January 19 to offer all the information available on the latest fires declared in Uruguay in the worst forest fire in the history of the South American country.
The confirmation, days later, of the positive for García and Mattos led to the rescheduling of the session.
More than 22,000 hectares were destroyed by the fire in various outbreaks registered in departments (provinces) in the west of the country (Salto, Paysandú and Río Negro) and in the south (Canelones).
The worst fire to date had taken place in 2005 in Rocha (southeast), when 5,000 hectares burned.
Both the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, and the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado, as well as Ministers Peña and Mattos traveled to the affected areas to see first-hand the situation of the affected livestock and agricultural producers.
(c) EFE Agency