El Caribe newspapers carry stories on the Senate?s approval of the modification of 24 articles in the Protected Areas Bill presently before Congress. According to El Caribe, the modifications effectively permit the fragmentation of large areas of the delicate coastal eco-systems of the Jaragua National Park and in the National Park of the East. The disfigurement of the environmental bill received the support of 20 PRD party senators of the 31 total senators present. The bill has yet to receive the necessary approval of the Chamber of Deputies.