The National Police has not allowed illegal occupants of the Los Girasoles to return to the Girasoles property that is located on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. The former occupants of the property were ousted and relocated to a nearby lot property of a physician as they await the government to resolve their alleged homeless status. The Girasoles issue, which made front-page headlines when supposedly the Police forcefully evicted 800 families, could set a new precedent. Despite political pressures, the Fernández government has not given in to the takeover of the private/government property. Politicians/government officers have been known to be promoters of the takeover of unoccupied private property in the past, creating major concerns as to the rights to property ownership in the DR. Governments in the past, especially the Balaguer governments, gave way to pressures of landless farmers allotting thousands of farmland to low income farmers. These properties are today in the hands of others, and thousands of farmers have moved to Santo Domingo, where they fall prey to promoters that invade unoccupied lands while making a profit of what is not theirs. The Girasoles group has won the support of outspoken Catholic priest Rogelio Cruz. The families demand to be relocated but have rejected initial offers by the government, saying they do not want to go beyond Km. 9 of the Duarte Highway, as they want to continue to be close to their work places. Press editorials have sided with the position of the Police and the government to dislodge the families from land that is considered part of the ecological reserve of the city of Santo Domingo. Report in Listin Diario Sunday magazine quotes Mercedes Sabater, director del Consejo Nacional de Asuntos Urbanos, explaining that the lands belong to the Green Belt of Santo Domingo, a protected area that is set aside for reforestation. She explained that not even the real owners of the land have obtained authorization to develop it. The property was expropriated by Decree 183-93 from the original owners. But the government has not compensated the owners, thus they continue to be the legal owners of the property. She explained just because the lot is vacant, does not give homeless persons the right to occupy it. Sabater acknowledged that thousands of poor Dominicans find their way from rural areas move to city areas every year, creating urban pressure. But she said the government cannot provide land for all who need it. Furthermore, she said these lands do not have any infrastructure, and what was there was a slum area, a neighborhood of cardboard boxes. The Girasoles slum came about when the property was invaded following Hurricane Georges. Santiago Moquete of Fundepro, a foundation that defends property rights in the DR, said that the invaders are not what they claim to be. He said they built shacks so they could later pressure the government for advantages. The promoters of the occupations of the property, then resell these shacks and the land they are on to others for up to RD$20,000. These persons also hope to be relocated by the government. He questioned Father Rogelio Cruz’s support of the group. He said the Father is aware that only 10 or 15% of the people who claim to have lived there, really lived there. He explained that the promoter of the illegal occupation of the Girasoles property is Juan Bautista Cuevas, who organized the group. He said Bautista also participated in the former Hoyo de Chulín neighborhood.
