Law 225-20 covers the disposal of solid wastes, and the law was modified last week by the Senate. The changes brought forth comments from the Industrial Association of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) that now expresses “deep worries” about the effects of these changes.
The AIRD notes that the changes were made without any consultations with the major actors in this area, and could well have very serious effects on the smallest companies, called “mipymes” (micro-, small, and median-sized enterprises) since the new charges show increases from 140% up to 3,759%.
Mario Pujols, the executive vice president of the AIRD, told reporters that there was a serious lack of a dialogue during the legislative process and that a productive dialogue would have produced a “more balanced and fairer” set of regulations. Furthermore, according to the spokesperson for the association, neither the Ministry for the Environment nor the Public-Prive Trust for the Overall Management for Solid Wastes were consulted on this matter.
Pujols went further, saying that during the five years since the enactment of Law 225-20, a lot has been learned and to exclude this information from the legislative process was very worrisome.
Another negative, as stated by the AIRD, is the very fast approval of the modifications, especially when taking into consideration that the law itself was discussed for more than three years before passage. The haste itself is worrisome.
The association is preparing a document containing the legal implications and the numbers involved in the legislation approved by the Senate. This report will go to the Chamber of Deputies where the legislation must be approved before going into effect. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, told reporters that he had received numerous phone calls relating to the legislation and that it was probable that the deputies would amend the bill as received.
One of the modifications that will be most obvious to consumers will be the change suggested in Article 143 of the new legislative package, which moves payment for garbage collection from the water bill (as is currently the case in Santiago de los Caballeros, for instance) to the electricity invoices.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
13 January 2025