Senator Amilcar Romero (PLD-Duarte) spoke out yesterday, Thursday 4 October against the exploitation of Loma Miranda by Xtrata Mineral. He stressed that the mountain was the site of the sources of several rivers that irrigate the Cibao and northeast farm areas and feed the dams of Rincon, Hatillo and Guaigui. The former minister of agriculture and current president of the Senate farming commission said he opposes the mining company’s plan to exploit that natural reserve. He said the mountain is a vulnerable resource that if exploited would harm food production and the environment, as reported in Hoy.
Another legislator, deputy Elpidio Infante (PRD-La Vega) submitted a bill that would create the Loma Miranda National Park to award environmental protected status to the mountain. In the explanation, Infante argues that while mining provides resources in the short and medium term, it is also an activity that is especially aggressive against nature.
The Academy of Science of the Dominican Republic said that enough time has gone by for the Minister of Environment Bautista Rojas Gomez to have denied the environmental license for the mining exploitation of Loma de Miranda. Milciades Mejia, president of the organization, said: “The country cannot afford the luxury of destroying a mountain for mining exploitation that will barely last five years.”
www.hoy.com.do/el-pais/2012/10/4/449318/Senador-dice-Loma-Miranda-constituye-garantia-alimentos
http://eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/10/4/95639/Academia-pide-impedir-explotacion
http://www.academiadecienciasrd.org/