The public hearing held yesterday to discuss the proposed multi-million dollar artificial island project off Santo Domingo’s Malecon seafront avenue was a rowdy affair, according to today’s papers. 25 out of the 27 speakers opposed the project, and the controversial island’s promoters were heckled and booed by those present. In favor of the project, apart from the promoters themselves – Novo Mundo Siglo XXI, were the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (CODIA). Voices against included architect Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, urban planner Amparo Chantada and journalist and politician Raul Perez Pena. Other opponents include the Colonial Zone Development Foundation, civil society group Participacion Ciudadana and the Dominican Surfing Association. CODIA defended the proposed island on the grounds that the companies involved in the development were internationally prestigious, and that the project would solve environmental problems. The promoters say that the island will generate 30,000 new jobs and energize the local economy. Chantada argued that the opposite would be the case, that the island would create serious environmental problems. Espaillat Nanita described the project as a betrayal of the Dominican people; typical of those who value anything that comes from outside the country at the expense of the country’s urgent needs. Many of those present staged a walk-out when Novo Mundo’s Eulogio Santaella took the stand. The meeting took place in the Senate building and lasted for over two hours.