The Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic on 8 January 2019 called attention to the Medina administration and society in general for the dangers watersheds and protected areas are facing because of a lack of enforcement of Dominican environmental laws. The members of the board of the Academy of Sciences maintain that the lack of enforcement of environmental laws in protected areas is a threat to the food security of the country.
The Academy of Sciences has urged the Attorney General of the Republic, Jean Alain Rodríguez, to act swiftly and forcefully to stop activities that endanger vital water resources and biodiversity.
The complaint was offered at a press conference called by the Grupo Jaragua, Acción Verde, SOS Ambiente, Fundación Moscoso Puello, Environmental Commission of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, and the environmental team of the Academy of Sciences and the Ecological Society of Cibao.
Diario Libre reports that during the press conference, Luis Scheker, president of the Academy of Sciences, accused Environment Minister Angel Estevez of complicity with those that are farming in protected areas. “The attitude assumed by the Minister of the Environment, Ángel Estévez, is worrisome, because instead of looking for solutions to solve the environmental problems, he insists on attacking the integrity of environmentalists who denounce the environmental degradation of sensitive watersheds and officially designated protected areas.”
They said that Ministry of Environment has undertaken a disinformation campaign in the media, going so far as to deny the veracity of infractions that violate the environmental laws of the country that are finally proven to be true when clear and irrefutable evidence is presented.
A spokesperson for the Academy pointed out that the national parks Sierra de Bahocuro, Jaragua, Los Haitises, Manolo Tavarez, Nalga de Maco, Sierra de Neiba, among others have suffered damage and the situation is aggravated by the indifference of Minister Estévez. Estévez is a former minister of Agriculture and farm businessman who has been supportive of farming in the protected areas.
In an editorial on 9 January 2019, Diario Libre highlights that it used drone technology to ascertain there were plant nurseries installed in Valle Nuevo protected area for future plantings and there was farming operations going on, despite the denials by the Ministry of Environment. The newspaper stresses that someone is saying lies and the drone technology served proofs that the Diario Libre reports carry the truth.
Read more in Spanish:
El Nacional
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
El Dia
9 January 2019
