President Hipolito Mejia decreed that the company Cheng Chua y Chow be authorized to use 60 meters of state territory to build part of their Cabanas Hey Okey, where rooms are rented out for hours. As reported in Diario Libre, Decree 747-04 was issued on 5 August 2004 ? 11 days before Mejia left government ? to authorize the construction on the sea-fronting land. The decree says that the Ministry of Environment had issued a no-objection from the Subsecretaria de Gestion Ambiental, as did the Ministry of Tourism. The decree is now being studied by the city government to determine whether, despite the existence of the Presidential order, they may implement a resolution of city councilors that would permit the municipal government to shut down this and other four motels. The city council determined that the motels are contaminating the Caribbean Sea with sewage waters, in addition to irregularly occupying the 60-meter sea border. The Presidential decree spoke of the government’s role to promote touristic activities that contribute to the social and economic development of the country.