MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina indicts Uruguayan expatriate for the grass fires

A Uruguayan farm handy man, Sergio Amable Salvador Vera, 62, became the first person to be indicted this week for starting the grassland fires that produced the recent blanketing with smoke of Argentina's capital Buenos Aires city.

The charge was of culpable negligence and his assets were frozen to a value of 50,000 pesos (18.000 US dollars). The judge indicted Salvador Vera, also known as "the Uruguayan", on testimonies from witnesses who allegedly saw the handyman set grass scrubs on fire in the Parana River Delta area while rounding up livestock. Another fifteen suspects were arrested and taken before the judge but fearing the "Uruguayan" could "flee to Uruguay", although he's been living in Argentina for the last forty years, he was the only indicted. Three other suspects, including an Argentine farm owner remain at large with arrest warrants pending. Meantime hundreds of firemen with the support from volunteers and other provincial personnel continue to battle the hundreds of fires which remain active in the Delta area. An estimated 70.000 hectares of grass lands to the north of Buenos Aires and south of neighboring Entre Rios province were set on fire (as has been done since the mid nineties) to help with new grass to feed livestock. However this year an exceptionally hot and dry April and possibly carelessness has seen the fires out of control with the wind blowing smoke to Buenos Aires City, Rosario and even eastwards to Uruguay. Buenos Aires City health officials said the effects of the grassland fires in the Paraná Delta region continued to be felt with 113 people treated in hospitals, all for minor problems, as a result of the blanket of smoke that covered the city. The toxicology services at BA's two children's hospitals also confirmed they had received massive telephone inquiries. But even more serious smoke and early morning fog has proved a deadly combination for Argentine highways where nine people have been reported killed and tens injured as a consequence of accidents. Experts have said that until climate conditions change, rain or cold weather, the smoke blanket can be expected to continue. Argentina's Environment Secretary Romina Picolotti, fresh from a visit to the Delta, told a local radio station that it was impossible to prevent fires from being started on the Delta islands. She continued to blame the landowners and also said: "If they keep burning the way they have been burning, this is going to happen again. People have to understand that. The burning of grassland in this area, and the brutal and irresponsible way that it has been carried out is very difficult to control". As for fire prevention in the Delta, she said, "There's no way, I'm telling you with complete objectivity. Fires were started simultaneously and in areas where they couldn't be fought without placing firefighters' lives at risk". She also defended the government's management of the crisis, saying that "absolutely all the fires were started deliberately. On Friday, while we were flying over the area, we saw people starting fires".