The Chamber of Deputies yesterday approved the bill to fragment the National Parks and reduce the area of protected status territory. Their approval of the proposal went through despite widespread opposition from numerous sectors of Dominican society, who called for a postponement of the debate until after Sunday?s Presidential election when technical studies could be conducted. Environmental groups, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the embassies of the European Union, Benelux, Canada and the United States vehemently opposed the passing of the bill. Because certain changes were adopted, the bill now returns to the Senate, which is prepared to cast a positive vote by the necessary deadline to ratify the legislation by Sunday, 16 May. The Senate, which has said it will conduct a session this Thursday, is dominated by the PRD that controls in all but one of the senatorial seats.
While the bill has had strong support from President Hipolito Mejia himself, other groups in government have decried the move, including the Ministry of Environment itself. Even the government-operated Listin Diario lamented the decision, with a cartoon today that shows a grandfather with two bags of sand and a coconut tree sprouting from each. The bags are labeled Sand of Bahia de las Aguilas (Jaragua Park), and Sand of Park of the East. The grandfather comments to the grandmother: ?I am saving this so that our grandchildren can see it.?
The bill authorizes the use of almost all of the beach lands of the Parque Jaragua and National Park of the East for touristic development, and authorizes the operation of mining concessions that the Mejia government has already granted on park land, including the Cementos Andino concession in Pedernales. The proposition to fragment the parks? boundaries has received the backing of the PRD senators and deputies, as well as the PRSC members of Congress who have been aligned with them from the inception of the Mejia government.
The vote in the Chamber of Deputies was 89 votes in favor, 21 against. The PLD deputies abstained from the vote, arguing that not enough time was given to them to study the bill. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, chose to fast track the bill in a three-session?s time regardless. On Monday evening, prior to the bill?s approval, Pacheco met with President Mejia.
FNP deputy Pelegrin Castillo said, ?In case this anti-nation initiative is passed, its application will be difficult because it would force a national and international investigation to establish responsibility for this shameless maneuver of fraud against our national heritage. The coastal and beach areas should not be segregated from the parks under any circumstances, but if this bill is passed, it should not be taken advantage of by three business groups and their associates in the government.? He then wondered aloud: ?Why are they not then proposing a tender to auction these areas, so that the state and society receive their due value??