Pro-oil Minister to visit Algarve to celebrate World Environment Day

Attaining news heights in government cynicism, the Minister of the Environment and other members of the Government will be in Faro on June 5th to celebrate World Environment Day.

One of the Algarve’s ardent anti-oil associations, MALP is to take full advantage of the ill-timed and insulting visit by mounting a protest, next to the CCDR-Algarve’s majestic offices, in Praça da Liberdade, Faro.

Minister, Pedro Matos Fernandes, a pro-oil member of the socialist government, oversaw and endorsed the recent decision by the Portuguese Environment Agency that allows the Italian-Dutch consortium, Galp-ENI, to drill a highly controversial test well just 46 kilometres off the west coast town of Aljezur.

Activists, students and other members of the public will assemble in the square at 09:00am and will stay all day in protest against a government that says one thing and does another, appears to be in the pocket of the oil companies, ignores petitions and well-reasoned argument and ploughs on with a pro-oil agenda which threatens the Algarve’s single industry, tourism.

Members of the MALP strongly criticise the Agency for having decided “against the will of the populations, the local authorities, the Algarve Tourism Region, associations of entrepreneurs and movements, groups and associations that, through public demonstrations of all kinds, vehemently rejecting the Aljezur test well.”