PRM presidential candidate Luis Abinader’s family has complained that after working for 16 years and obeying all the country’s laws and business practices, the government has withdrawn its approval for the Hatillo mining concession granted to the Cementos Santo Domingo company of which they are shareholders, along with Spanish investors.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines cancelled the company’s mining permit on 13 November 2015.
In a press release, the company president and brother of the PRM presidential candidate, Jose Abinader Corona accuses the government of abuse of power and acting against the company because his brother Luis was running for the presidency against President Medina.
According to Jose Abinader, the last authorization the company received was dated 27 December 2012, when President Danilo Medina was already in government, which is why the government cannot now say it did not have a permit for Cementos Santo Domingo’s operations
Minister of Energy and Mines Antonio Isa Conde, nevertheless, says that Cementos Santo Domingo was operating illegally. He said they had been issued an exploration permit by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in 2000, but not a mining permit for the limestone deposits in Azua. Isa Conde says that to issue the permit would be in violation of Environmental Law 64-00 and Sectorial Law of Protected Areas 202-04 that added 92.78% of the company’s property to Parque Francisco Alberto Caamano Deno.
The decision was communicated to the company via Resolution 00022-15.
Nevertheless, during the press conference, the Abinader family showed proof that they are authorized to operate in the area because they have been working there since 1999, well before its declaration as a protected area in 2004. They pointed to a 2007 court ruling ordering the government to respect the rights of Cementos Santo Domingo to mine the raw material deposit. The company has paid over RD$1.2 billion in taxes and is a major source of employment in the Azua area.
Abinader niega que compañía de su familia opere de manera ilegal
Energía y Minas dice compañía de familia de Abinader operaba de manera ilegal
Familia Abinader denuncia abuso de poder en medida contra empresa