The debate over the subdivisions of rustic properties has been high, for which it is good to have some figures in view: according to various sources of information, more than 95% of the surface of Chile is rural and less than 5% is urban. However, according to the 2017 Census, more than 90% of the population lives concentrated in urban sectors.
So, faced with this situation, the question is: how does the Government intend to decentralize the country and strengthen the regions, considering that this was one of its great campaign promises?
The current Ministry of Agriculture has had to look for ways, during the last weeks, to curb the subdivisions, using administrative and instructive measures that for some are not only illegal, but also unconstitutional, and produce a direct impact on the dream of many Chileans to have a place to live immersed in nature.
The ideal, rather, would be to go through the legislative route, to generate an appropriate regulation, with greater regional planning, and not with equal measures for all territories, understanding that each one faces different realities.
It is also necessary to incorporate new land uses, such as preservation and rural parks, to protect agricultural land, encourage non-timber forestry activities and democratize conservation. It is also important to increase oversight and submit more projects to the Environmental Assessment Service, to avoid poorly planned initiatives.
But beyond the necessary regulation, currently land projects are not the problem in themselves, but rather are the real estate developers who, without any criteria, consume ecosystems and the natural heritage of our country at high speed, offering projects that fragment and collapse territories, and in addition, are far from what they promise to be in their social media ads.
So, if we are going to move forward – in the meantime – through the administrative route, from the legal point of view, and analyzing the detail of the announced measure, mere suspicion is not enough to suspend these procedures, both parties must be heard and the reality of each project must be taken into account. Only in this way can due process, the bilaterality of the hearing, the rights of the interested parties and equality before the law be guaranteed.
For all these reasons, we will have to pay attention to the outcome of these reviews, which we hope will advance in favor of a vision of the future based on rurality as a way of life, which avoids the privatization of land in the hands of a few and does not intervene the legitimate right of people to be part of a natural environment.
Because decentralizing Chile implies promoting intermediate peoples, conservation and nature as a life project, with all the advantages it brings to people’s health, happiness and quality of life. And this, without a doubt, cannot be stopped.
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The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
