Environment Minister Max Puig has said that his department is beginning nationwide consultations with environmentalists, hoteliers and all national sectors to propose changes to the present environmental legislation, as reported in Hoy newspaper. He said that the sectorial protected areas law recently upheld by the Supreme Court contains contradictions that make it difficult to apply. For instance, he mentioned that the law creates a national recreation area within a national park. The contradiction is that a national park is an international category that does not contemplate the usage for which recreational areas have now been created. He said this is the case of the Jaragua National Park where Bahia de las Aguilas is located, and where the Ministry of Tourism is promoting the construction of large resort hotels. Puig spoke during a meeting with the press coordinated by the Presidency’s press office.
Puig also announced that during the first week of July, a workshop on finances and environment will be held here, sponsored by the Economic Commission of Latin America (ECLAC). He said that during the workshop, local technicians will learn about the new trends in the area of environmental protection, such as the drafting of a bill to create tax incentives for companies that respect the natural environment. He said he is working in coordination with Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa.
Puig went on to speak about agreements his department is signing with private associations in order to stimulate joint management of protected areas and to foster greater involvement of civil society in their protection.
He also mentioned the resumption of talks with the German authorities regarding a new cooperation program. A high-ranking mission from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development is visiting from 13-18 June for inter-governmental talks on Dominican-German cooperation into 2008. Heading the delegation is Heinrich Dehn, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation’s director for Central America and the Caribbean Also taking part in the talks as part of the German delegation are the KFW (Financial Cooperation) and GTZ (Technical Cooperation), as well as the DED (Social-Technical German Service).