The Listín Diario, the leading Dominican daily, has followed up on the story released by El Siglo on the death of schools of small fish in Samana Bay. Investigations carried out by the government environmental protection organization, Instituto Nacional de Protección Ambiental (INPRA) reveal that the megaproject is the leading culprit of the death of thousands of fish. The "megaproject", a joint Dominican-Arabian and Spanish venture, calls for the construction of a giant pier as well as hotel and real estate developments in the Samana Bay area. President Leonel Fernández himself participated in the ground-breaking ceremony of the project. INPRA technicians say that if the project promoters would have implemented their recommendations for the carrying out an environmental impact study and had followed its recommendations, the environmental disaster would not have been avoided. The dredging and drilling and pumping of sludge has affected the fragile environment of Samana Bay. Despite the INPRA calling a halt to construction works, project contractors continue as if nothing had happened.
