Lieutenant Colonel Danny Silverio Batista Ozuna was shot in the right leg when carrying out an operation against the extraction of aggregates from the Haina River. He was commanding a unit of agents of the National Environmental Protection Service (Senpa).
The Ministry of Environment reports that the colonel was taken to the Hospital General Doctor Vinicio Calventi, where he is being treated.
“In the early hours of this Wednesday morning (31 May 2023), members of the National Environmental Protection Service (Senpa) carried out an operation in the Lechería zone, Santo Domingo West, in response to a complaint about illegal extraction of aggregate in the Haina River,” reports René Mateo, Deputy Minister for Soils and Waters.
Mateo indicated that the preliminary report shows that during the operation carried out in the early hours of the morning, Senpa agents seized several heavy equipment units, including backhoes and trucks.
“Although they fled the place, the environmental violators returned and attacked the Senpa members and the Ministry of Environment staff with gunfire to recover their equipment,” Mateo said.
He explained that the Ministry of the Environment is carrying out the technical and legal surveys to proceed judicially against the owners of the equipment which was used to extract aggregates illegally.
He asks the Public Prosecutor’s Office to proceed with due diligence so that those responsible for attacking technicians and soldiers by shooting at them, endangering their lives and incurring in an act of frank defiance of authority, be taken to justice.
He said that the Ministry of the Environment and Senpa will continue to act to stop the illegal extraction of aggregates in the Lechería area. He reminded that the protection of the rivers must be a national priority for the water security of the Dominican population.
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Hoy
Ministry of Environment
31 May 2023