DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Apolinar Veloz / Hoy

With government and private business seemingly aligned for the green light of the exploitation permit for Goldquest operations in a mountain area of San Juan de la Maguana, economists of the state university are raising the red flags that what is going on in Sanchez Ramirez province could be repeated in San Juan de la Maguana. The main issue is that the government does not have the oversight capacity to control the mining companies.

As gold prices remain high on the international market, economists Apolinar Veloz and Maritza Ruiz from the Dominican Public Policy Observatory of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) are urging the Dominican government to review its mining contract with Barrick Pueblo Viejo, as reported in Hoy. They argue the agreement contains excessive provisions that are financially and environmentally detrimental to the Dominican Republic...