The Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas is questioning the credentials of Francois Fontes and his company, Argos, for carrying out the announced US$600 million investment to develop hotels in the Bahia de las Aguilas beach area, a UNESCO biosphere reserve where hotel construction has been banned up till now. Fontes made a presentation in Paris during President Leonel Fernandez’ visit. At the time, a Grupo Mogador was also mentioned regarding the construction of the hotels, but the French Embassy does not have any information about this company.
The Coalition said that Argos is registered in France with a capital of EUR38,112. In a statement to the press, the Coalition considers this an absolutely ridiculous amount for a company that is talking of investments of more than half a million euros.
According to an earlier Presidency release, Fontes had initially presented the President with a proposal for the construction of four 70-room hotels. President Fernandez favored the investment, and invited them to make an April presentation in the DR.
The Argos company registration dates back to October 1996. Clave Digital online news service obtained an updated certification of the company’s registration, where Fontes appears as president of the board, and published it. Argos stands for Office Francais Pour le Development de la Plaisance S.A.
The company was registered with the purpose of “the development of La Plaisance, lobbying, representation, engineering consulting, promotion, technical assistance, obtaining of sponsorships, sports, cultural and artistic events.”
The Coalition is denouncing the fact that Argos’ background supports the view maintained by the Ministry of Environment that there is nothing ecological about Argos, but “lots of real estate speculation.”
The Ministry of Tourism responded that Argos would not be making the investment, but rather is the company that has carried out the studies to determine the density parameters for construction of hotel rooms in the coastal areas. The Ministry said more information would be available once the project is presented locally.
Environmentalist Adolfo Lopez said that Fontes is a business associate of Tourism Minister Jimenez, a claim denied by a Tourism Ministry spokesperson. Outside his government post, Jimenez is a major real estate promoter.
In a statement by public relations spokesperson Anna Jimenez, Sectur clarified that it was a group of London-based investors who had proposed the US$600 million investment in Bahia de las Aguilas, not the French group. She does not state the name of the companies of the investors mentioned in the clarification.
Today’s Diario Libre publishes an advertisement from the Office of the Presidency announcing that while in France, President Leonel Fernandez met with French investors and environmental architects who expressed their interest in developing a first project of ecological hotels in the country with a US$600 million investment in the province of Pedernales, according to an environmental diagnosis already carried out by the group of French investors.