The Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas filed a request before the Superior Administrative Court (TSA) on Monday, 27 January 2020. The Coalition protests the construction of Leaf Bayahibe, a hotel project that has the backing of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism.
The Coalition seeks that the Ministry of Environment submit to a public hearing, and that work immediately stop on the development of the Leaf Bayahibe. The Coalition requests that Environmental Permit No. 3771-19 dated 14 January 2020 be suspended until the court rules on the dispute.
Meanwhile, environmentalist Adolfo Lopez insists the construction of Leaf Bayahibe is illegal. He says that the land where Grupo Globalia has begun construction of the 96-cabaña Leaf Bayahibe hotel was purchased for US$18 per meter when the price of beach land in the area was US$200 per meter, as reported in Noticias SIN. Lopez makes the statements in a video that has circulated on social media.
“He [Pepe Hidalgo] spent a little money to get it converted from a national park to a national recreation area, to see if he could build the hotel,” says López in a video. He alerts that if the construction is allowed, several other large companies who have also purchased protected land will then be able to carry out their own developments.
López says building the hotel would take the coastal part of the park away from the general public and would destroy pre-Hispanic archaeological sites, caves with rock art, endangered animal populations, and the coral reefs.
López says that in 2018, Resolution 0009-2018 was published for the use and management of the national recreational areas and specifically the National Recreational Area Guaraguao-Punta Catuano of the National Cotubanamá Park (Park of the East). The regulation establishes that neither hotels nor tourist apartments can be built in the area, nor other infrastructures can be built in this area.
Environmentalists say the construction violates Protected Areas Sectorial Law 202-2004. Resolution 009-2018 was signed by then Environment Minister Francisco Domínguez Brito to close any legal loophole in the legislation that banned construction in the area.
Interviewed on Sol de la Mañana talk show, Dominguez Brito said the environmental impact permission issued by the Ministry of Environment needs to be revoked.
The National Cotubanamá Park is an essential area for sea turtles, it has 170 species of birds, 26 species of amphibians and reptiles and more than 200 species of insects. Also, it has 50 endemic species of plants, i.e., plants that are only found on this island. The area is also a natural water reserve.
As reported, Hidalgo had been after developing the land he bought for cheap in 2000, but all ministers before Environment Minister Angel Estevez had had not allowed the development. The environmentalists say that the legal requirements for the environmental permit were not met. Estevez has been lax about private operations in protected areas. He has authorized avocado plantations in the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, and potato plantations in the Valle Nuevo National Park.
The proposed hotel would go up at the same sight where Spanish cooperation helped build an environmental watch station.
For more information, check out the websites of Grupo Jaragua, SOS Ambiente, SOECI, Asamblea Nacional Ambiental, Coalición por la Defensa de las Areas Proteidas, Insaproma, Yoha Nature and Acción Verde.
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28 January 2020