A front-page picture and feature article in El Caribe tells of workers loading a dump truck with sand from the beaches of Gaspar Hernandez, in the northeast, despite the fact that the permit for this work lapsed nine months ago. A syndicate of 45 trucks is exploiting the beach sand, however local authorities seem to be solely worried about collecting their taxes. According to the head of the truckers? syndicate, with the arrival of the new (PRD) government, they were given a six-month permit to extract beach sand, for which they paid RD$55,000. During previous administrations, similar permits had cost a mere RD$500. Carlos Almonte told reporters from El Caribe that the truckers were waiting momentarily for the renewal that had been promised. In sharp contrast to the statements, however, Fernando Campos, undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, said that he had no knowledge of what was happening on the Atlantic Coast. He rejected the possibility that extraction of beach sand was indeed admissible, and that, moreover, there is a 60-meter boundary that ?everyone must respect.?
?This is prohibited?, he said, ?and nobody can take sand from the beaches.?