President Danilo Medina has vetoed the bill that granted protected status in the National Park category to Loma Miranda, which straddles La Vega and Monsenor Nouel provinces.
He said that the decision does not mean that he is authorizing Falcondo to mine in the area. He says this would not happen under his government until there is an environmental impact study that complies with international and Dominican standards.
President Medina met with Senate president Cristina Lizardo yesterday, Tuesday 2 September 2014 and delivered a letter to the effect returning the bill. He stated that the bill as approved is incompatible with the Constitution.
In the letter, the President states that his reasons for observing the bill are:
“… I have serious doubts of its compatibility with the Constitution; that international commitments made by the Dominican Government on protection of investments may be ignored; and the adverse effects for the development of the country that a law establishing a national park that bans the use of natural resources within its perimeter, even when the socioeconomic and environmental conditions and mining technologies guarantee their sustainability.”
In an editorial, Diario Libre praises the President for the decision. The editorialist says that Congress had simply desisted from analyzing and pondering the bill and submitted to populism.
El Nuevo Diario’s editorialist highlighted that President Medina had taken the decision amidst crossfire, given that the National Park had achieved so much public support. The newspaper called for defining a mining policy to prevent legislative populism and cases such as this.
However, PRD president Miguel Vargas Maldonado described the decision as inappropriate, saying that Medina had politicized the issue as 95% of the population is now against mining in the area.
Father Rogelio Cruz, the priest who has been actively campaigning to ban mining in the area, called for a protest walk in Cristo Rey today and announced future protest activities.
http://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/2014/09/03/i773871_correcta-decisin.html
http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=389481
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/09/03/i774861_padre-rogelio-llama-desobediencia-cvica-por-loma-miranda.html