The mountain valley municipality of Constanza has a new environment head after the murder of a farmer who denounced illegal sand extraction. The Ministry of Environment appointed Army Major Juan Francisco De Jesús Echavarría on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 as its new municipal manager based at the Constanza office.
39-year old Constanza farm owner Francisco Ortiz Baez was murdered after he denounced the illegal extraction of sand in the Tireo area of the Constanza River.
De Jesús Echavarría is a graduate in Education with a mention in Physics and Mathematics from the Central Dominican University of Professional Studies (UCDEP). He specialized in Environmental Protection in Spain and has a Master of Science in Ecology and Environment from the Pedro Henriquez Ureña National University (Unphu) in Santo Domingo.
The Ministry of Environment explained that two men suspect of being behind the murder of the farmer are in preventive prison, awaiting trial.
When wearing in the new Constanza manager, Vice Minister of Environment for Soils and Water, René Mateo, called on the entire population of Constanza to join the fight against environmental crimes.
Mateo represented the Minister of the Environment, Miguel Ceara Hatton, along with Ana Patricia Ossers, legal director of the Ministry.
Mateo trusted in the cooperation of all sectors of Constanza so that the ministry’s office can carry out its work to protect and conserve the natural resources of the area, which is vulnerable, due to the slope, the type of soil.”
“We do not allow extraction from the rivers, with rare exceptions, where there is an emergency situation, and then a permit is issued to the corresponding institutions, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Egehid, Public Works…”, Mateo said.
In that sense, he recalled regarding the extraction of sand from rivers that “any other activity that occurs, not only here (in Constanza), but at the general level of the country, is totally illegal. “They are not allowed and do not have permission from the Ministry.”
While Major De Jesús Echavarría upon taking on the challenge said: “The environment is a sensitive issue. I have 20 years of experience in environmental protection activities,” he said.
“I have had to face environmental crime in different dimensions, and I hope that in this new mission I can count on the support of the community. I tell the community that I came to work,” said the soldier.
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N Digital
25 April 2024