Hotel ordered to vacate?

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the gorgon

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High court ruling says a paradise island belongs to all Dominicans


Santo Domingo.- The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the islet Cayo Levantado is a public property, in the category of national heritage that belongs to all Dominicans, a decision that ends the months-long litigation over ownership of the paradisiacal key.

The ruling also authorizes Real Estate Northeast Jurisdiction Attorney Juan de Dios Rosario and the estate of the late Andr?s Trinidad ?who also claim the property- to serve notice on investments Whale Bay, S.A, which manages the Bah?a Pr?ncipe hotel, to voluntarily leave the property they illegally occupy on the island within 15 days from the notification.

The high Court notes that the Constitution and the laws place great importance on the properties under the public domain, because they are expressly inalienable.

It also stressed that to reduce protected areas Congress requires the vote of two-thirds of the members of both legislative chambers.

Cayo Levantado, whose size is just a few square kilometers withing Samana Bay, is the second-most visited island of the Dominican Republic, after Saona, in the southeast.

does this mean that the luxury hotel Bahia Principe will have to pack up and leave?
 
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mountainannie

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Wow.. that is an impressive ruling! I always wondered how that hotel got the rights to contruct on that little island... There is no recourse from the decision of the TC, so yes, I would say that it means that they have to leave.
 
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Castle

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I don't think Bahia Principe will go, but I do think they will be required to pay a rent for their use of the cay's real state. I think that would be fair enough. A little more freedom of transit for tourists within the cay will be good, also, not limited to the tiny public beach.
 
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Castle

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I think that if they were looking for payoff they would not have made this decision public, as now it's going to be much more difficult to hide it.
This goverment is definitely trying to fix a few things, let's at least give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
rogerjac

rogerjac

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Castle said:
I think that if they were looking for payoff they would not have made this decision public, as now it's going to be much more difficult to hide it.
This goverment is definitely trying to fix a few things, let's at least give them the benefit of the doubt.
Click to expand...
It can still be hidden...eg. if I rent to you at half the rate you give me 20 percent "commison" and you save 30 percent....still a bribe I think
 
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Castle

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rogerjac said:
It can still be hidden...eg. if I rent to you at half the rate you give me 20 percent "commison" and you save 30 percent....still a bribe I think
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Yes, that's true. It's still better for DR than the $0 they pay today.
 
oldschool

oldschool

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Cayo Leventado is Groupo Pinero's ( Bahia ) crown jewel hotel in this country no way will they be kicked off this area without any retribution this is just a way for the PLD to collect more slush money bank on it....hehe
 
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the gorgon

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this one is going to be tricky. from all outward appearances, the hotel is there in violation of some national patrimony statutes. it will be strange to allow them to operate if they pay rent, because that would mean that money trumps that particular legal initiative.
 
rogerjac

rogerjac

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I wonder how they built the place to begin with. No permits or inspections. there were payoffs right from the beginning and now that the crooks have spent the bribes they need a new payout so they create a situation to do their work
 
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the gorgon

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rogerjac said:
I wonder how they built the place to begin with. No permits or inspections. there were payoffs right from the beginning and now that the crooks have spent the bribes they need a new payout so they create a situation to do their work
Click to expand...

or, maybe these crooks did not get their slice, and this is their gambit to cash in on some jeepeta money
 
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Castle

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the gorgon said:
this one is going to be tricky. from all outward appearances, the hotel is there in violation of some national patrimony statutes. it will be strange to allow them to operate if they pay rent, because that would mean that money trumps that particular legal initiative.
Click to expand...

It has happened before. Things were built illegally at some point, but then they are already there and it's more expensive to remove them than to collect some kind of fee. After all, the damage to the environment is already done and demolishing the hotel is not going to bring things back to their original state.
Adrian Tropical in malecon (SD) is a good example of this. Completely illegal construction, now they have to pay a stiff fee to keep operating there. Demolition would be an even worse environmental disaster, I guess.
 
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the gorgon

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Castle said:
It has happened before. Things were built illegally at some point, but then they are already there and it's more expensive to remove them than to collect some kind of fee. After all, the damage to the environment is already done and demolishing the hotel is not going to bring things back to their original state.
Adrian Tropical in malecon (SD) is a good example of this. Completely illegal construction, now they have to pay a stiff fee to keep operating there. Demolition would be an even worse environmental disaster, I guess.
Click to expand...

Castle, you make perfect sense. there are situations in which practicality has to prevail over symbolism.

i just wonder why all the bluster of the 15 day notice to cease and desist, when they know it is not going to eventuate like that...
 
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jkc

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mountainannie said:
Wow.. that is an impressive ruling! I always wondered how that hotel got the rights to contruct on that little island... There is no recourse from the decision of the TC, so yes, I would say that it means that they have to leave.
Click to expand...

Cannot the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY intervene and change the law? I would think so!
 
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