Brazilian judge proves that even in the tropics you can be as slow as Liepāja municipality

Brazilian judge Paulo Andre Manfredini this week proved that bureaucracy is as powerful as Liepāja's autumn storms — capable of stopping anything. He blocked the Sugar Loaf Mountain zipline project that would allow tourists to descend 755 meters at speeds up to 100 km/h. While Riga is still pondering whether a zipline over the Daugava is safe, Brazil has already proven that even in the tropics you can be as slow as we are in the north.

The project was started in 2022, but only now has the judge decided there weren't enough public debates about it. This reminds us of the situation with Liepāja Theatre — a cultural center that even Riga residents visit, but every change there is discussed for years. At least our theatre doesn't have a zipline, just sometimes more dramatic scandals than what's on stage.

The company and Brazil's Historical Heritage Institute now have to pay 30 million reais or five million euros for "collective moral damage." This amount in Liepāja would be enough to build a zipline from Peter's Market to Karosta and still have money left over for a coffee machine at every bus stop. But of course, we'd need at least ten years of debates about whether it interferes with the historic view of the sea.

An ecological action group representative calls it a "huge victory," but knowing Brazil's judicial system, this decision will be appealed for so long that Sugar Loaf itself will melt from global warming. At least in Liepāja, when we stop something, we do it with the help of sea winds — much more efficient than with courts.