With its decision to put an indefinite hold on the construction by the Ministry of Public Works of an interurban bus terminal on grounds of the Mirador del Este park in eastern Santo Domingo, the Medina administration is giving time for the Ministry of Public Works to put its paperwork for the project in order. The Superior Administrative Court (TSA) ordered a hold on the construction, but did not order the Ministry of Public Works to restore the park area. A report in El Dia speculates this means the construction of the bus terminal could continue at a later date.
Those who object the project say it needs the green light of the city councilors, a land use permit, environmental permit (environmental impact study and social permit) as established in Environmental Law 64-00 and Law 176-07 of the National District and Municipalities.
Community organizations and the city councilors protest the site because it takes a chunk out of the eastern city recreational area and because it is located next door to the Los Tres Ojos natural park. Environmentalist Jose Manuel Mateo of the Academy of Sciences said the construction of the inter-urban bus terminal at that site would be catastrophic for the environmental balance in the area. Opponents of the site suggest the Ministry of Public Works use other areas that may be available on the Las Americas Expressway that are not next door to the recreational park areas.
While the terminal was not presented for approval to the city councilors, it already has the approval of the Mayor of East Santo Domingo Alfredo Martínez. The mayor says the land is owned by the Ministry of Sports. The site was the venue for the 2003 Pan American Sports Games. He says a parking lot was located there, and thus a land use permit is not necessary because the use of the property will be the same. “There is a parking area and it will continue to be used for parking,” Mayor Martínez has said.
Environment Minister Angel Estevez has also defended the construction of the bus terminal. Yet environmentalists say that the “no objection” letter granted by Estevez is not a valid document. They argue the construction was begun before presenting an environmental impact study and without the issuing of the social permit, a document whereby the community does not object to the construction.
The eastern bus terminal is one of five large interurban bus terminals under construction by the Ministry of Public Works. Others are one in Los Alcarrizos, another at the Metro Mamá Tingó metro stop for the northern part of the city; other at the 6 de Noviembre and Carretera Sanchez highways for the south, and another in the east.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Diario Libre
El Caribe
Listin Diario
El Dia
25 October 2018
