Geoalcali aspires to a partial works license from Sangüesa for the mine The company sees the delay in obtaining the municipal license as detrimental and the council hopes that the Government will clarify the use of a listed forest Posted on 02/24/2023 at 06:00 The Geoalcali company, which is planning a potash mine on horseback between Aragon and Navarra, with the main facilities in the municipality of Sangüesa, has warned of the "tremendous damage" that the "delay" in obtaining the license is causing the initiative of municipal works by the Sangüesino City Council, the last official permit they need. It has transferred to the council itself conditions such as additional expenses due to the delay in the execution of the works, or difficulties in fulfilling commitments acquired with financial and commercial entities with which it collaborates.As will be recalled, the City Council decided to suspend the deadlines for processing the building permit until the Government of Navarra issued a clarification regarding twelve parcels affected by the project and classified as Monte de Utilidad Pública (MUP). Thus, while this fact is resolved through a compatibility report, the company aspires to obtain a partial works permit, although in the first instance it has not been accepted either.To a request of February 8, the consistory replied to Geoalcali, via resolution of the mayor's office, that it was not appropriate to lift the suspension of the term to process the works license or grant a partial license under the proposed terms (excluding the communal plots affected by the expropriation file not yet concluded and those classified as MUP included in the compatibility file started) "because the projected infrastructures and equipment are of a complex nature that prevents their execution by differentiated parties, as they are situated between some plots and others". However, it was pointed out that "in order to grant a license for a part of these works, an application should be submitted detailing those that can be executed and those that cannot, guaranteeing compliance with the limitations."NEW APPROACHIn this context, this week Geoalcali has presented a commitment document to carry out the partial works without affecting that area of Monte de Utilidad Pública. The company points out that the plots in question occupy "a minimal part of the project, less than 5%". “Among the various solutions that we are proposing to the council, we are optimistic and believe that, with this last proposal, the city council will resolve favorably. It would not make sense to postpone this decision any longer and put at risk the investment of a project as strategic as the 'Mina Muga'”, says Ignacio Salazar, CEO of Geoalcali. "The tremendous damage that this delay entails for the project has been reported several times to the city council," he says.The company began work in the Aragonese part, in Undués de Lerda, in the summer, but suspended it in January as it was unable to continue in Navarra. A global investment of 600 million is expected, and 80 have already been invested. A bank financing line of another 320 million for construction has also been closed. 1,000 jobs will be generated in the two years of construction and 800 when it operates at full production.A DEBATE IN THE PLENARYThe municipal management around this project jumped this Thursday to the plenary hall. Javier Solozábal, spokesman for the opposition (AISS), censured the lack of information to his group and the public, and without questioning the technical work, invited to seek a solution at the political level to give way to this "strategic project". . “The alternative is bad for everyone, and we could risk having to pay damages,” he ventured.Rober Matxin, mayor of Urban Planning (EH Bildu), advanced that "the partial application is being studied according to the information received this week" and that the complete one will not be given "until Territorial Planning is positioned." The secretary himself, José **riel Ayesa, qualified that "the license to build the plant is not denied, but suspended", and recalled that other partial licenses have already been granted to Geoalcali, for example to build the power line. Likewise, from APS, Mikel Mayayo stressed that "the decision of the government team was to inform the public when the technical process was finished, so as not to influence." And the mayoress, Lucía Echegoyen (APS), criticized that "politicizing a building permit is out of place", remarking that Solozábal's point about possible compensation "is far from reality."At the end of the plenary session, a group of Geoalcali workers delivered a letter to the mayoress asking for "will" to carry out the project.
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