The ministries of tourism and environment appear to be divided on how to proceed with the development of the southwestern beach area of Bahia de las Aguilas, as reported in El Caribe newspaper
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez is backing the development of hotels in Bahia de las Aguilas, a formerly protected natural reserve area until the Mejia administration altered the status of 53.5 square kilometers of beach in the National Jaragua Park, designating it a “recreational area” despite widespread opposition from environmental sectors from within the Dominican Republic and from abroad. Jimenez says that seven international hotel chains are interested in the area and that the development will put an end to poverty in the region completely. The minister said the government plans to authorize the development of the projects, which also include the development of the impoverished Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitre, by mid-2005. Jimenez said the World Tourism Organization will participate in the undertaking and that financing would come from the InterAmerican Development Bank and the Bank of European Investments.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, environmentalists are challenging the law that removed the protected status of several areas across the country and the involvement of the Environment Ministry. Environment Minister Max Puig, along with other environmentalists, is awaiting an opinion from the Supreme Court of Justice on the issue. Hotel development at the Bahia de las Aguilas would violate the UNESCO biosphere reserve category granted to the Pedernales beach site.
As reported in El Caribe, during his first term as tourism minister from 1996-2000, Jimenez, who is a real estate developer by profession, promoted the development of a tourism project for Bahia de las Aguilas in France that included the construction of infrastructure in nearby Cabo Rojo, as well as a cruise ship port.
Another proposals backed by environmentalists supports developing the hotels in Cabo Rojo and leaving the fragile Bahia de las Aguilas beach intact.