The representative of the Committee for the Defense of Protected Areas, Luis Carvajal, assessed on 29 January 2020 the decision of President Danilo Medina to suspend the construction in the recreational area of Guaraguao-Punta Catuano. Carvajal warned that the actions against the construction in the protected area will continue in court because Medina did not annul the illegal permit that allowed the works. “The suspension creates a commission to see if it is possible to violate the law,” said the environmentalist, when interviewed on CDN’s Enfoque Matinal, channel 37.
Meanwhile, project promoter Juan José Hidalgo of Grupo Globalia, through a press release, says that his company has invested more than US$500 million in the country, employs about 3,500 people. A Spanish citizen, Hidalgo is also a naturalized Dominican.
“The land for Leaf Bayahibe was purchased in good faith, at the market price at the time, in 2000, after then-President Hipólito Mejía issued a decree authorizing construction in that area,” the note says. The company argues it has received the environmental permit from the Ministry of Environment to build the hotel.
Nevertheless, in the press release, the company said the actual construction of the hotel has not started. The land was cleared to build new installations for Cotubanamá National Park staff. The statement says the environmental impact will be minimum as only 96 cabañas will be built.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Hoy
30 January 2020