The Executive Director of the Airport Department, Melanio Paredes, yesterday rejected calls to reconsider the move of Santo Domingo’s Herrera Airport to El Higüero, north of the city near the Duquesa city dump. Paredes said that "there’s no going back" on the decision, and that any government official who wishes to make public observations about the decision should first check his facts with the Public Works Ministry. The latter was a clear allusion to the recent public objection to the decision by Tourism Minister Félix ("Felucho") Jiménez. He dismissed the objections of Herrera industrialists, saying their desire to keep the airport in Herrera was incomprehensible, unless they simply wanted the convenience of "an airport in the front yard of their homes." Herrera Airport cannot pass any rigorous safety and security tests for a metropolitan airport, and must be closed. [Yesterday Airport Commission President Rafael Serrano Banks said that the decision to move the airport was in fact based on the determination that Herrera did not, and could not, meet International Civil Air Organization air safety criteria.] As for worries expressed by many about the proximity of Duquesa to the new airport, Paredes rejected claims about safety risks presented by the dump and said that its appearance can be changed by covering it over with a garden.
