MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner government admits Botnia plant “does not pollute”

Gov. Urribarri: “Botnia does not contaminate”

The administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner openly supported the provincial governor who declared that a pulp mill on the Uruguayan side of a jointly managed water course, --and at the heart of a bitter dispute between the neighbouring countries--, “does not contaminate”.

"Entre Rios governor Sergio Urribarri is a very serious and honest man, he does not repeat what people like to hear", said Argentina's Minister of Justice, Security and Human Rights Anibal Fernandez. He added "there are no records of contamination from the Botnia pulp mill so far, along the river Uruguay", underlined minister Fernandez thus rejecting the long standing position of picketers that for more than two years have blocked bridges linking both countries to protest precisely alleged environmental pollution. "I repeat Urribarri is a very serious man, he has done an excellent job and if there's no contamination, there's no contamination", insisted Minister Fernandez in reference to the Finnish Botnia plant in Fray Bentos, Uruguay just across from the city of Gualeguaychu, province of Entre Rios. "It's not fair he should be "publicly hanged" because he had the guts to talk about an ongoing issue which pickets have promised to worsen by blocking all three bridges simultaneously this summer ruining people's chances of travelling and enjoying holidays", added the minister. Uruguay and Argentina have been at odds over the Botnia plant for several years now, a situation that has soured normal relations between both countries. Argentina has taken the case to the International Justice Court of The Hague and Uruguay has appealed to Mercosur arguing impediments to the free flow of people and produce. However in spite of the intense mobilization, Botnia has been at full production for over a year now (over a million tons annually), and no contamination claims from either side of the shared river have been filed. At the beginning of the conflict the Kirchner administration gave its "unofficial" blessing to the pickets but has been unable to control them since. Governor Urribarri, who is aligned with the Kirchners said that the fact no contamination has been recorded "instead of being good news has been interpreted by the picketers as bad news; it seems some people effectively want contamination". He admitted the possibility of accumulative contamination effects on the long run "but so far the truth is there is no contamination record from Botnia along the river Uruguay. This should be good news, and is very good news". Urribarri said that some picket leaders are intrinsically "authoritarian" and intimidate, --or even worse--, any political leader or media that dares question them. "I very much respect the right of Gualeguaychu to live in environment free of contamination but I also must defend as governor, the rights of the rest of Entre Rios communities who want to develop the Mercosur link and corridor which represents so much for the future of our whole province". Governor Urribarri arguments were supported by an official statement from other communities along the river Uruguay from Entre Rios and further north in Corrientes, which also criticized the pickets' announcements of further bridge blocking during summer months.