The Baixo Sabor Dam violates the rights of surrounding landowners and jeopardises the future of agriculture and other economic activities in the region
12.9.2023
Priority question for written answer P-002621/2023
to the Commission
Rule 138
Nuno Melo (PPE)
The Baixo Sabor Dam, which was touted as a project of ‘vital strategic interest for Portugal’, has ended up placing enormous constraints on farmers in the region.
The construction of the dam has separated and isolated a lot of agricultural land in the parishes of Felgar and Souto da Velha, in the municipality of Torre de Moncorvo, which in the meantime have been left with no connection between the banks of the dam.
Every day, due to the lack of access to land that belongs to them and that has been divided by the dam, farmers in the Sabor river region are forced to travel around 100 kilometres to tend to their fields and various crops, which is both unsustainable and absurdly costly.
To date, the farmers have received no aid, nor have there been any attempts to find a solution on the part of the national authorities.
The Baixo Sabor area forms part of a sparsely populated region, which already had huge structural problems. The construction of the dam has served to exacerbate this problem as opposed to alleviate it.
- 1.Is the Commission aware of this situation?
- 2.Does the Commission consider there to be a clear violation of the owners’ rights?
- 3.What Community aid could be allocated to resolve this structural problem, which is something that was not taken into account when construction of the Baixo Sabor Dam began?
Submitted: 12.9.2023