The development is funded by transnational corporation Techint, which aims to imitate a private development in the port neighborhood Puerto Madero, in a 620-hectare surface. It is a European style luxury area in Buenos Aires.

They claim that through the building of housing and businesses in Avellaneda and Quilmes the area will be appreciated and it would trickle down to the poorest sectors.

The only ’detail’ is that the works for the development will be located in a wetland area, which is fundamental for that area of the River Plate, shared with Uruguay.

Real World Radio spoke with Nicolas Cimentto, who said the area is a reservoir for animals that are unique in Argentina, thus its strategic environmental value.

He criticized the method used by the private corporation that submitted the environmental impact study, since it mixes business interests with environmental value of the affected region.

Meanwhile, Nieves Baldacini, member of the Regional Forum in Defense of the River Plate, Health and the Environment said the destruction of the river’s marginal forest by this megaproject will severely affect the ecosystem, which has already been affected by the landfills of a subsidiary of Techint for 26 years.

The law provides that anyone causing environmental damage should be responsible for its restitution. However, in Techint’s case the law is reversely applied: it profited from the landfill and it now aims to profit by building on top of it.

The disappearance of the wetland would cease to play the purifying role of the waters of the rivers Plate and Bernal “thus leaving a huge ecological footprint”, said Nieves in an interview with Friends of the Earth Argentina. The organization has supported this citizen struggle in defense of the ecosystem.

“They talk about progress, but if progress means destroying a source of oxygen and water that we need to live, this is going backwards”, said Nieves. The neighbors have been mobilized since 2008 by organizing marches and awareness raising campaigns.

Produced by Amigos de la Tierra Argentina Photo: http://www.riberaconurbanosur.blogs...