Abandono en Las Terrenas

There is now a big polemic on various forums about Las Terrenas... I guess that if I post the links my post will be deleted, but enough to say that I am referring to the 2 main French forums and another English-speaking board...

Basically, Jos? Alexis, the sindico, helped by Anderson, the Medio-Ambiente representative, have been pressuring TerraFM to shut down the morning talk-show "Lo que pasa en Las Terrenas". They were not happy to listen to the hard facts every morning of the week. It is closed now.

Many people have been reacting to this, as well as to an editorial in yet another french website about Las Terrenas, where the sindico Jos? Alexis basically insulted the gringo community about the trash issue...

PM me if you want the links...

Squat

What options do the local expat community have to make a change? Do they have a junta de vecinos? Could they create a group and let the sindico know that they will be advising their countrymen of the situation on foreign controlled forums which will adversly affect the investment in the region not to mention give him bad publicity?

Chip said:

What options do the local expat community have to make a change? Do they have a junta de vecinos? Could they create a group and let the sindico know that they will be advising their countrymen of the situation on foreign controlled forums which will adversly affect the investment in the region not to mention give him bad publicity?

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Hard to say... Gringos are the ones "making" Las Terrenas, however we can't vote, we can't be elected... So politicians don't give a damn about us...

Locals in the opposition want locals in the majority to go out, and fire their botellas, so they can put their own botellas, and get their piece of the pie...

I don't know... I feel we are reaching a bottleneck...

Is it the expat community in Las Terranas, or is it the tourist community who travel to Las Terranas, who actually may have some influence? If it is the latter, how can that community be educated to the seriousness of the problem, and what can be done to leverage that influence to effect positive change?

RonS said:

Is it the expat community in Las Terranas, or is it the tourist community who travel to Las Terranas, who actually may have some influence?

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As far as I know, none of the above... We don't vote, we don't get to say a word on how the government money is spent... So they don't give a sheeeet... People in the Ayuntamiento seem to be quite content to use whatever funds they receive from the government for their personal use... According to what I have been reading, some of them are "getting rich"... All that with the funds that came to fix things...

I know this is nothing unusual in this country...

Squat said:

As far as I know, none of the above... We don't vote, we don't get to say a word on how the government money is spent... So they don't give a sheeeet... People in the Ayuntamiento seem to be quite content to use whatever funds they receive from the government for their personal use... According to what I have been reading, some of them are "getting rich"... All that with the funds that came to fix things...

I know this is nothing unusual in this country...

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That is very true! However, LT and Samana Peninsula in general, are areas that should be considered prime tourist destinations and, as such, you would think that government officials would be more sensitive to these issues. They are killing a cash cow! I just don't get it!

Call "Gobierno de la manana" and "Gobierno de la tarde" on Z101 FM

They are not afraid of the government and don't shut up when threatened.

I think it would be helpful if one were to have a friend in another country create a free blog in English and Spanish where pictures could be posted, also with names and pictures and phone numbers of the sindico involved.

It should also say things like don't come to Las Terrenas because of such and such. Then send the link to the politician and explain to him that this blog will be sent to all travel agents in Europe, Canada and the US.

Believe me, these people will notice for sure.

Squat said:

Many people have been reacting to this, as well as to an editorial in yet another french website about Las Terrenas, where the sindico Jos? Alexis basically insulted the gringo community about the trash issue...

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Squat, I'm curious. What is the essence of the dispute between the sindico and the "gringo community" regarding trash?

Keith R said:

Squat, I'm curious. What is the essence of the dispute between the sindico and the "gringo community" regarding trash?

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Wel, basically, Jos? Alexis, the sindico, wrote an editorial (in french) on one of the french LT website. Here it is:

? L??ditorial de Jos? Alexis, Maire de Las Terrenas
Pour bon nombre de nos concitoyens, le mandat d??lu se r?sume trop souvent ? une s?rie d?avantages qu?on envierait volontiers. Pourtant, la r?alit? est tout autre.
Pour ne prendre que celui-l?, le mandat de Maire se r?v?le bien souvent une charge plus qu?un b?n?fice. Qu?on y songe ! Cela signifie, pour un homme ou une femme, d?accepter pour une indemnit? minime, voire symbolique dans la plupart de nos villages, une disponibilit? de tous les instants. Et, au del?, une responsabilit? personnelle de chaque jour. La gestion des ordures m?nag?res en fait partie. Aucun terreneros, o? qu?il vive sur notre territoire, ne comprendrait que l?on ne vienne r?guli?rement, ? sa porte, collecter les d?chets que notre mode de vie et la soci?t? de consommation g?n?rent.
Pourtant, aucun n?admet facilement que ce miracle naturel et quotidien ait un co?t, et un co?t de plus en plus lourd. Chacun fait et agit comme si la vertigineuse progression des volumes de d?chets ?tait in?luctable et comme si sortir ses sacs-poubelles devant sa porte suffisait ? effacer le probl?me. Ce n?est pas vrai ! Et il faudra bien que les terreneros s?en rendent compte.
La collecte et le traitement des ordures m?nag?res ont un co?t ! Et ce co?t, sous sommes tous condamn?s ? le payer ! Pire, il ne suffit pas de payer, il faut encore assumer !
Nos d?chets, ceux que nous mettons tous les jours dans nos containers, ne s??vanouissent pas dans la nature. Nous aurions pu choisir de les br?ler dans un incin?rateur, mais cette solution aurait peut-?tre gravement compromis notre sant? et celle de nos enfants.
C?est pourquoi nous avons choisi de les trier, de les recycler, de les valoriser, et de n?enfouir que leur part ultime en dernier ressort, dans l?espoir qu?un jour nous sachions faire encore mieux.
Pour nous, pour Las Terrenas, pour l?avenir de nos enfants. ?

Then he went on closing that radio-program with the Medio-Ambiente guy, just because the host was criticizing him.

Here is also the 2nd List?n article, where he accused the hotel owners not to help him for the trash: La República - Empresas citan males amenazan desarrollo turismo Las Terrenas

My French is rather basic, but as I understand it, he's saying that regular waste collection costs money, yet many do not want to pay. He further points out that collecting is not enough -- something has to be done with the collected trash. Las Terrenas could choose to incinerate it, btu that might compromise the health of the children. So he advocates sorting and recycling.

Am I reading that right?

If so, what was considered controversial about that?

Part two of the story focuses on the need for cultural activities and improvements outside the gated communities created just for tourists (residential and hotels). La República - Empresas citan males amenazan desarrollo turismo Las Terrenas

It is hard to sum it up in one post, but the region have a look at the original article about the closing-down of the radio talk-show:
http://i32.tinypic.com/91bck6.jpg

But what exactly was it that the radio show criticizing? What was the critique broadcasted that PO'ed the mayor so much? And why was the local rep of the Environment Ministry involved? Rather unusual for him to be involved...

Keith, your questions are all very valid. I don't really know how can I start...

For us living in LT, reading the Mayor's editorial was like a big joke... A bit like if Al Capone was writing an essay on how to be a good citizen. Las Terrenas has been more dirty than ever since this mayor took office, and the state of the roads are a complete nightmare.

Every morning of the week, the talk-show's hosts were commenting the local actuality and taking phone-calls on the air. Lots of people complaining about the trash issue, the road conditions, the empty promises of the sindico...

The sindico went to consult with the Medio-Ambiente guy (both from PLD), and decided it wasn't good to let to criticism be heard. They pressured the radio station owner to close it down.

Now the word is that they want to sue the radio hosts... But I don't think this would happen, as some people wouldn't be thrilled to see investigators ask for the books...

Thanks for the synopsis, Squat. So the mayor talks the talk, but does nothing, or perhaps worse, is one of the reasons nothing gets done. What a surprise! :tired:

Sorry to hear that the mayor can get away with shutting down a radio station serving as a conduit for legitimate citizen complaints, and sorrier still that the Medio Ambiente guy stooped to get involved (I doubt he would have kept his job if Puig was still his boss). But I can't say that I am totally surprised. It wouldn't be the first time the Dominican media/press has been muzzled. Just unusual that it would be about something like trash...

If you and/or the other residents of Las Terrenas have photos of environmental problems that the municipal administration is not addressing (such as trash) that you think should be aired, then send them to me and I'll put them up on the Green Team blog. Likewise if anyone wants to write up the issue, even from a personal (first-person) perspective, we'll post it on the blog.

Thanks, Keith... I'll see how I can take some pics of all that...