"Vicelehendakari Remirez puts at risk the safety of ships"
- The vice-president of the Government of Navarra and responsible for civil protection, Javier Remírez, has criticized the attitude of Subai Erakuntza to the seismic movements that are taking place in Navarre around the Yesa dam and in recent weeks. In the following lines one can read the criticism made to Remírez in the press release sent by the association to the writing.
"Insecurity in the Yesa reservoir has been established for at least seven years. According to reports from the Commission, the City of Sangüesa, the Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua or the Government of Navarra itself, the right wing is in 'strict balance'. This means that the forces that cause the demolition of the hillside are the same as those that support the hillside (Security Factor = 1), which happens from 2013, when the hillside was broken and two urbanizations had to be evacuated. Since then, a situation of variable movement and new rupture areas have been created with a lack of safety margin. This is incompatible with any regulation intended to preserve the safety of the natural and human environment.
But before, in August 2007, on the left side of Esa, 3.5 million cubic meters moved, which they also tried to hide with the excavators. In 2013, the inclinometers on the right side were accumulating motions of several centimeters a week. However, the neighbors were not warned, no one answered their questions. Many of them spent large amounts of money in arranging their homes, when the Ministry knew they would never live again, as it was a hillside that slipped incessantly over 100 meters deep. During this time, there was also no warning of the danger that 5000 people living in Sangüesa were running through the river.
Despite the evidence, in December 2019 Javier Remírez appeared publicly with a negative tone of the seriousness of the situation, even rejecting the report of the Government of Navarra: “The situation is stable on the right side of Yesa,” “It is pleased with the work of communication and transparency,” “we are facing a stable scenario both in terms of the seismicity and the movements of slopes.” But the counselor just waited. On 9 October, following statements by Minister Teresa Ribera to curb Esa, despite the fact that security was not guaranteed, she had no objection to launching: “That’s what the Government of Navarra has always said, especially because we prioritize security.”
But there is no end to the lack of competence of the Presidency, Equality, Civil Service and Internal Affairs Council. In the last two months we have experienced an unparalleled seismic crisis: 638 seismic movements, 62 of which have experienced earthquakes, more than 10% of the relevant seismic history known since 1612. Given its exceptional impact, which has occurred in only 0.03% of the historical time analyzed (over four centuries), it is absolutely necessary that our institutions review and update the Special Civil Protection Plan (SISNA) against Seismic Risk of Navarra".
The environmental association explains that the current seismic risk plan is 2011, but Remírez does not recognise that since then no update has been carried out and, worse still, denounces that no update is planned.
"The negationism, the inability and irresponsibility of the Presidency Advisor, Javier Remírez, put at risk the safety of the Navarra population. What we need the least at the moment is the Vice-President of the Government, the Interior Minister with competence in Civil Protection, the head of the SISNA and of Citizen Security, and the Government spokesman, who uses fallacies, lies and manipulations to curb inefficiency, to promote the interests of the big business corporations that participate in the expansion of Esa, to the detriment of life and the tranquility of people,".
