During a press conference at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Thursday 14 February, Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia, Minister of Environment Bautista Rojas Gomez, and Presidential legal advisor Cesar Pina Toribio announced that all holders of property titles for Bahia de las Aguilas would receive 45% of the profits of the sale of the state lands to unnamed private investors. The announcement is controversial because the judiciary has established that the titles were fraudulently awarded.
The spokesmen for the government announced that the areas surrounding the unspoiled yet fragile beach lands of Bahia de las Aguilas would be developed for tourism.
Cesar Pina Toribio said this would open doors for investors to encourage tourism development in the southwest that has been on hold because of the unresolved legal dispute.
The government says that “not an inch of land in the Bahia de las Aguilas protected area would be touched”.
Garcia said that his Ministry’s Land Development Plan establishes that Bahia de las Aguilas with its 7kms of beach land will be maintained as public beach, while there will be a management plan that is to be supervised by the Ministry of Environment. But Ivonne Arias of Grupo Jaragua went on record in the press saying that the government is lying because all the 68 properties in Distrito Catastral #3 of Enriquillo, Pedernales that will be put up for bid are within the protected area.
Environment Minister Bautista Rojas says that 42% of Pedernales is protected and wouldn’t be touched by the development projects. He said that the project would be developed in a similar way to Saona Island in the National Park of the East.
Legal advisor Pina Toribio stated that the agreement is that the property titles that are participating in the agreement with the government would be excluded from the legal impasse. He said that as part of the agreement a Trust would be created, in the framework of Law 189-11. The government deal will grant owners of the controversial titles 45% of the land value, while the government would receive 55%. He said the trust fund would be established to pay the titleholders their share.
The case has been pending for 16 years after private investors purchased the proven fraudulently-issued titles for the beach area. Pina Toribio argued that the legal process would take 40-50 years and was the reason they had decided to proceed with the transaction method to retake the lands and then seek investors.
Interviewed on the CDN TV channel, environmental lawyer Laura Acosta described the deal as “the biggest land fraud in the country’s history.” Eminent journalist Huchi Lora has also campaigned against the new deal.
Commenting on the press conference, acento.com.do said that there was no mention of the fact that the property titles were the result of a proven fraud against the Dominican state.
The impasse dates back to when the director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute established a farming land settlement in Bahia de las Aguilas, an area where it is clear that farming is not possible. Third parties subsequently purchased the land from the individuals that had been allotted the property. Court cases proved that the titles had been issued to many individuals who did not even know they had been benefited. The case was one of the most publicized corruption scandals at the start of the first administration of President Leonel Fernandez in the late 90s.
Opponents of the deal say the agreement will legitimize the fraudulently obtained titles.
Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia said that the legal impasse had continued for 16 years and could take another 40-50 years to resolve. He said the southern region could not wait to develop its natural and environmental assets.
Garcia announced that the investment would be worth US$1.45 billion, but the investors have not been identified.
www.eldia.com.do/nacionales/2013/2/14/107096/Gobierno-asegura-que-no-tocara-Bahia-de-las-Aguilas-en-proyecto
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2013/02/15/371585_poseedores-titulos-litis-pedernales-recibiran-del-monto-venta.html
http://presidencia.gob.do/noticia.php?type=release&id=1330
www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/48034/56/El-Gobierno-justifica-el-decreto-que-legaliza-titulos-en-Bahia-de-las-aguilas.html
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n-tN5T63P4U
http://diariolibre.com.do/noticias/2013/02/15/i371596_lamentan-pacto-bahia-las-aguilas.html