The Sunday edition of Hoy carried a small story on its front page of a 50-year lease of the marina at Cayo Levantado and the nearby Hotel Cayacoa to a company called Jampi Investments, SA. The proposal was submitted to Congress by the Executive Branch and includes provisions for remodeling the tourist-based and urban infrastructures of Samana. An investment of US$200 million is mentioned. The Senate leader, Jesus Vasquez, sent the proposal to a committee for study. The deal will require Jampi Investments to renovate the current wharf area and remodel the port, including a dredging and cleaning-up of the river outlet. The proposal also speaks of a marina, commercial buildings, sports installations, villas, apartments, hotels, a bus terminal and the refurbishment of the beach area. Today’s edition of the same paper headlines the controversy that has been stirred up by the proposed deal. Senator Jose Tomas Perez rejected the negotiations between the state and Jampi Investments out of hand. Ramiro Espino, the president of the Senate Commission on Tourism and senator for Samana province, told reporters he had “problems with the proposed cession for 50 years.” Senator Espino said that the basic problem is that the concession includes the infrastructure of the Hoel Cayacoa on Cayo Levantado and the marina, as well as land within the urban areas of the city of Samana. Espino said he thought the government had broken off negotiations with Jambi in order to give the concession to a French company that asked for just 20 years. The Samana senator said he thought that the French company was already doing preliminary studies for the remodeling of the tourist areas.