Requests a transition period
According to A. Vanagos, the “Pelekas” club initiated a petition “regarding the cancellation of the ban on sailing self-propelled watercraft with internal combustion engines in the water bodies located in the Sarta regional park”.
“We are turning to the Rokiškės district municipality for support, and we are asking you in turn to turn to the Ministry of the Environment regarding the cancellation of this ban,” A. Vanagas expressed his concern on behalf of the club and all fishermen from Rokiškės. In a public address, he said that the explanatory note of the draft decision prepared by the Ministry of the Environment did not contain any references to the planned ban, only an abstract sentence was written – “to provide for measures to reduce the negative impact of activities and to protect the environment of protected areas”.
“The arguments behind the decision to ban boats with gasoline engines in Lake Sarta remain unclear,” said A. Vanagas.
Legitimate expectations have failed
According to A. Vanagos, the explanatory note states that additional meetings were held with the heads of the interested institutions and the elders of the wards included in the regional park, as well as local residents. “However, the interviewed local residents, the elders of Dusetės and Kriaunai heard about the ban on sailing gasoline boats only after the ban came into effect – as did all the fishermen,” asserted A. Vanagas.
Also, the leader of “Peleko” testified that the provision of the draft decision to ban internal combustion engines was not properly publicized. After all, not every fisherman or businessman knows where to find published legal acts drafts or even knows that such a draft is being prepared at all.
“Information about the proposed ban should have been provided by at least several sources of public information”, said A. Vanagas and added that, in the opinion of fishermen, the ban has ruined the activities of yacht clubs and raft owners operating in Lake Sartii, and ruined the legitimate expectations of amateur fishermen. “No transitional period has been established for owners of gasoline boats to change this type of engine to electric,” A. Vanagas notes.
In addition, he emphasized that the fishing community views the ban on self-propelled boats with internal combustion engines as groundless. “When adopting such bans, it is necessary to establish a transition period of at least ten years for the interested groups to adapt”, believes the head of Peleko.
He didn’t come to the meeting because he didn’t have to
Council member Raimonda Stankevičiūtė-Vilimienė asked during the meeting which specialists of the Rokiškis district municipality were represented in the preparation of the planning scheme of the Sartė regional park, which also includes the prohibition of gasoline boats in Lake Sartė. “The municipality did not participate in the preparation of this plan,” answered Mayor Ramūnas Godeliauskas.
“Gimtasis…” also asked Algis Pažūsios, the advisor of the Sartų regional park group, why he did not come to the council meeting. “I don’t have to participate, I have my work. Who is guided by emotions, and I am guided by legal acts. How do I assess that “Pelekas” wrote a petition to the ministry? Let him write,” A. Pažusis briefly commented.
We also asked the representatives of the Ministry of Environment – how do they assess the petition submitted by “Peleko” and whether the fishermen’s appeal is going to be taken into account. We haven’t received an answer yet, but when we do, we will definitely share it with you, dear readers of the newspaper.
2024-07-25 13:15:00