President Hipolito Mejia vetoed the Sectoral Protected Areas Bill as approved by Congress. In his message to the Senate, the President said the bill went through despite containing errors and inexactitudes that make it technically impossible to implement. Mejia?s statement furthermore highlights that the way it was approved surpassed the constitutional jurisdiction of the Executive Branch.
The president of the Senate, Jesus Vasquez (PRD-Maria Trinidad Sanchez), a strong supporter of the changes that were incorporated, said the bill would be sent to the natural resources commission presided over by Celeste Gomez (PRD-Santiago Rodriguez), another staunch supporter of the modifications.
President Mejia removed several of the changes made by Congress, but retained certain aspects that would allow the reduction of the areas of the Park of the East and Bahia de las Aguilas (Jaragua Park in the Southwest) for hotel development, although in purported detriment to the fragile ecological systems in those regions.
In its Sunday editorial on the veto, Hoy newspaper indicates that the Executive Branch?s insistence on proceeding with the fragmentation of the beach areas must be ?because the government, even prior to the congressional modification of the protected areas bill, had already made concessions on these lands.? The editorial urges the Legislative Branch to take its time in order to avoid incorporating any new mistakes into the proposed law, such as the blooper of changing the name of Pico Duarte to Pico Trujillo. ?But above economic interests, or those of any other kind, it is of vital importance that the biodiversity of these areas be protected so as to permit the stability of the microclimates and the equilibrium of the flora and fauna. The country has many places that are apt for tourism investment without the need to make transformations that could be harmful,? says the newspaper.