Hundreds of farmers in the Cartagena countryside have agreed to sign a collective lawsuit against some specific aspects of the law that aims to regulate the activity in the area of the Mar Menor because they are based on a big lie. The lawsuit against the law, which came into force in July 2020 promoted by the Government of the Region of Murcia, which is presided over by the popular Fernando Lopez Miras, also denounces that some of its articles are unconstitutional.
The agricultural producers received counsel from the Ingenio Foundation and took this decision at a massive meeting, which was attended by thousands of people, that was held on Wednesday night in Torre Pacheco. They decided to sue the law more than two years after it entered into force because they consider that it violates fundamental rights contained in the Constitution.
The Region's main productive sector has also made this unprecedented demonstration of strength to fight another equally important element: the criminalization of agriculture, which has been blamed for the degradation of the lagoon to avoid addressing the direct causes of its deterioration.
According to farmers, the determining factor of the pollution of the Mar Menor and the possible deaths of fish are the untreated urban fecal waters that are discharged in the Mar Menor directly from blind wells -an obsolete and overflowing sanitation network under a lot of stress due to the high population and insufficient purification-, as has been proven by the reports of different agencies and independent working groups. This has resulted in the presence of E. coli fecal bacteria in much higher amounts than recommended.
The "big lie"
Such fecal discharges are the sole responsibility of local governments, which, according to farmers, evade their responsibility by completely blaming the agricultural sector for the degradation of the waters. Producers say they feel deceived, criminalized, and used; the victims of a 'big lie' to use them as a scapegoat for the deterioration of the lagoon. In fact, according to official data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, there are no agricultural nitrates in the lagoon.
Despite being deeply disappointed with a regional government that doesn't listen to them or take them seriously, farmers have offered to be an active part of the solution. They have ensured that there are technical initiatives to maintain a healthy Mar Menor that are perfectly compatible with economic, agricultural, and tourism activities. They also stated that they don't understand why these plans are not implemented, as a delay to implement them will condemn agriculture, other related economic sectors, such as logistics, and the future of thousands of families.
The sector will continue to disseminate information and carry out a counseling campaign for farmers so that many other producers join the demand in the coming weeks.
For more information:
Fundación Ingenio
https://fundacioningenio.com