The government’s announcement to expropriate beach property part of the Jaragua National Park on the southwestern coast is also making headlines. This is not the first time the lands make headlines. Tourism development of the lands were halted when the Leonel Fernandez administration debated the expropriation of the lands during the last months of the Balaguer administration supposedly to be distributed to low income farmers as part of a Dominican Agrarian Institute program. The PLD government returned the lands to the National Park on grounds that they were part of a protected area and could not be used for farming purposes. But now, President Mejia has declared that the lands will be used to develop tourism projects to bring prosperity to the impoverished region. The government has not revealed names of the favored investors. Ecologist Eleuterio Martinez in an interview for the Listin Diario newspaper says that the land of the paradise-like Bahia de las Aguilas should be used exclusively for eco-tourism projects, that is tourists should be allowed to come for day visits only. He feels that visitors should be lodged in hotels located in less fragile areas, such as in nearby Cabo Rojo to Pedernales, or the areas of Cueva de Abajo, Cabo Rojo, to Bahia Honda. He feels the park area should be preserved free of construction. The Listin Diario report lists other case alerts affecting national parks. These include the illegal occupation of a strip of the National Park of Monte Cristi, despite a move by the Ministry of Environment to dislodge the invaders, many influential government officers. Also the present government has announced the construction of a highway communicating the provinces of San Jose de Ocoa y Monseñor Nouel that would affect another park. It donated a strip of the Mirador del Sur Park in Santo Domingo for the construction of a church and school (this was allowed in the previous government, the new government legalized the construction). And the Mejia administration has authorized the construction of sports installations for the Pan Am Games at the Mirador del Este National Park, which was opposed by former President Joaquin Balaguer under whose government the park was built. Eleuterio Martinez in the Listin Diario says that another government decision that is lethal to the environment is the elimination of the propane cooking gas subsidy. Cheap propane gas meant less trees would be cut for cooking. He also criticizes the governmental support to the Manabao-Bejucal-Taveras dam that would affect the ecology of Jarabacoa. (5 March 2001)
