The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco (PRD-National District), favors scaling down the boundaries of the national parks? limits so that these may be developed for tourism and mining projects. Pacheco supports the bill as approved by the Senate and says it will be studied as soon as it is forwarded to the deputies this week. The Senate rushed the bill through last week, despite major opposition.
Pacheco does not agree with postponing the study of the bill until after the election, as was requested by environmental, tourism industry and civic society groups. ?I understand, and I have stated this several times, that the natural resources of the DR need to be put to use for the country and for the welfare of Dominicans. This country cannot have the luxury of continuing to have large wealth that is unexploited to give preference to other situations that, while important, are not more important than the survival of people,? said Pacheco, as reported in the Listin Diario. He backs the development of southwest beaches, and said that tourism industry sectors opposing this development only fear the competition. ?The people of the province of Pedernales have natural wealth that has not been exploited and that is not fair, because the people of the southwest are dying of hunger. Then we have to exploit this wealth for the welfare of the region (Bahia de las Aguilas) and to increase the hard currency earnings of the country,? he said.