A movement called “A flag and a flower for the Malecon” and the Dominican Republic Academy of Sciences, which oppose the construction of an artificial island off the shore of Santo Domingo, want President Leonel Fernandez to explain why the state has signed a contract with a person with a questionable business track record such as Augusto Menendez, one of the project’s promoters. According to Diario Libre, the organizations are asking the President to order an investigation that would establish the reasons why the state attorneys recommended the contract. A member of the movement, Emilio Galvan, said they would be pressing for judicial action against the project promoters. They pointed out that Menendez has cases pending in the US and Spain as well as in the Dominican courts. Plaintiffs in the Dominican cases include the Luis Heredia Bonetti law firm, Porter Novelli, ReMax Metropolitana and Banco de Reservas.
Listin Diario reports that the Academy of Sciences defined the work that is being done for the construction of the Metro as violations of Law 64-00 on Environment and Natural Resources. The organization also believes that the Office for the Reorganization of Transport (OPRET), directed by Diandino Pena, is using an inadequate solution by relocating soil excavated for the Metro to build the road that will link Villa Mella with the Avenida del Puerto. This is not a definite project, there is neither research nor documentation, and it was contracted without tender, stated the Academy’s spokesman, ecologist Luis Carvajal.