The Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires ordered the halt of the works that the firm Global Urbanization Group is carrying out on the coast of Berazategui.
The court granted a precautionary measure filed by the Río de la Plata Forum, Biodiversity Hudson, and Preserving Hudson, thus nullifying a previous ruling by the Administrative Litigation Court No. 1 of Quilmes, under the tutelage of Hugo Jorge Guarnieri.
The highest judicial body warned of the presence of evidence suggesting a possible “serious and irreversible environmental damage“.
In May 2025, the mentioned civil entities approached the Supreme Court of Justice of PBA to demand the unconstitutionality of Ordinance No. 6552/24.
This municipal regulation authorized a zoning modification to allow the construction of the Northern Eco Urban District.
Serious environmental damage
The project’s goal was to transform coastal lands —adjacent to Quilmes— from Ribereña Environmental Reserve to a category lacking environmental protection suitable for urbanization.
However, the Provincial Ministry of Environment rejected the validation of the regulation for representing a regression in ecosystem protection, preventing it from coming into effect.
On the other hand, the company Global Urbanization Group, led by entrepreneurs Gabriel Andrés Sussman and Jorge Hernán Yacoub, appealed to judge Hugo Jorge Guarnieri against the authorities’ refusal.
They requested permission to start the property conditioning works based on the aforementioned Ordinance 6552/24.
Through an unconventional ruling and via a reserved file (without public access), judge Guarnieri gave the green light to the works, which began in January of this year without possessing environmental permits or having the supervision of the competent bodies.
Upon learning of this, the provincial Supreme Court imposed a limit on the company, the magistrate, and the Municipality of Berazategui.
The court ordered the immediate suspension of the works, invalidated Guarnieri’s ruling, withdrew his jurisdiction over the reserved file, and accepted the precautionary measure of the environmental organizations.
Thus, Ordinance 6552/24 is rendered invalid until a final ruling is issued.
Representatives of the environmental sector reported that in the three months of the company’s illegal activity, a significant part of a critical coastal ecosystem, composed of wetlands and protected native forest. was destroyed.
They also emphasized that the judge of Quilmes seems to be the only one ignoring the irregularities committed by the private sector and the municipality, which endangers an environment that acts as a barrier against floods and functions as a natural filter for the aquifers that supply water to the population of Berazategui.
