Environmental groups protested that the government has allowed the use of land in protected areas to build the fence marking Dominican and Haitian territory. The environmentalists denounce the destruction of mangroves for the construction of the border fence.
The Environmental Commission of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and the Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas denounced that the construction of the border fence has caused the destruction of thousands of square meters of mangroves in the Saladilla Lagoon, in Manzanillo. The environmentalists said the Army commenced construction without having the corresponding environmental permits.
The denunciation was made during a press conference led by the Vice Rector of Extension, Rosalía Sosa and by the coordinator of the Environmental Commission of the state university, UASD, Luis Carvajal.
Carvajal, who acted as spokesman in his capacity as coordinator of the Environmental Committee, said that the destruction of this green area has occurred in the process of construction and filling of a path more than 20 meters wide, which will give way to a road about 20 kilometers long, where the border wall is to be built.
“This will divide in two this wildlife refuge, which is also protected by the RAMSAR International Convention,” denounced the the environmentalist.
He explained that this serious situation not only affects the already impacted territory, but with the filling that will be poured over the wall through an aquatic system associated with the Masacre River, the mangrove swamp located to the east of the construction will be left without a water source, which would generate an ecological crime that could cause its disappearance.
The environmentalists warn that with the potential loss of more than 800,000 square meters of Dominican soil, this green area will be isolated between the border and the wall, leaving it unprotected and at the mercy of the predators of this area.
It also indicates that another element that exceeds all logic is that despite the efforts in defense of the Masacre river, a long stretch of it will also be isolated from the territory, with all the vulnerability that implies “losing sight” of what happens from La Vigía to its mouth at the sea.
They regretted that all this has happened in spite of the fact that the authorities of the Ministry of the Environment have had full knowledge of this “environmental crime”.
“They have turned a blind eye under the argument that this is work carried out by the government, ignoring the mandates of the Constitution and the laws, which place the National System of Protected Areas under guardianship”, Carvajal said.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Noticias SIN
22 February 2023