El Siglo newspaper columnist Aristofanes Urbaez today publishes comments of members of the Oficina del Desarrollo Comunitario La Salud y el Medio Ambiente in the town of Maimon near Puerto Plata city that dispute the right of Riu Hotels to present the company as a champion of the Maimon Bay environment. Riu hotels president recently urged that a new site be found for a 180 megawatt power barge so as to preserve the lovely environment of the area they fear could be polluted by the operation of the barge. The area residents point out that the hotels do not practice what they preach. The grass roots group says that hotel operation wastes have polluted the Los Meyreles mangrove and that coral reefs were destroyed to accommodate the hotel complex facilities.
