President Luis Abinader has ordered the immediate suspension of all activities related to the Goldquest Romero gold mining project in San Juan de la Maguana. The decision follows widespread local opposition and emphasizes the administration’s policy of “active listening” and institutional transparency.
The President previously had said he would await the results of the environmental evaluation Goldquest would have contracted to Aecom, an international firm.
Now, President Luis Abinader has called a halt to the steps Goldquest is taking to secure the exploitation permit. “This government listens. We listen with attention, respect, and responsibility,” the President stated in a national address from the Presidential Palace. “When the citizenry expresses concerns, our duty is to act with prudence.”
Legal and social viability
The President explained his decision is rooted in Environment Law 64-00. The law deems non-viable a mining project if it faces massive rejection from the local population, as is the case with the Romero project.
Although Law 64-00 does not explicitly mention that a project must be canceled due to popular rejection, it does establish environmental and social principles that condition its viability, which establishes that high-impact projects cannot advance if they face significant social opposition.
One of the most relevant articles is Article 38, which creates the environmental evaluation process and includes “public consultation” as a mandatory instrument. This means that affected communities have the right to participate and express their position before approving high-impact initiatives.
Likewise, Article 41 establishes that mining, industrial, or natural resource exploitation projects require mandatory environmental impact studies, especially when they may affect ecosystems, water sources, or human settlements.
Another key point appears in Article 6, where the law recognizes the right of every person to enjoy a healthy environment and orders the State to guarantee the participation of communities in the conservation and management of natural resources.
Specialists in environmental law consider that these articles strengthen the political and technical criteria used by the government to temporarily stop the Romero project in the face of the social rejection evidenced in San Juan de la Maguana.
GoldQuest, the company that has endeavored for decades to secure the exploitation permit, has touted the significant gold deposits and the revenues the state would receive. Yet, the project has been a flashpoint for environmental activists and San Juan de la Maguana residents who fear the impact on the region’s water tables and agricultural production.
Project history and current status
President Abinader provided a timeline to clarify that his administration did not initiate the concession:
2005 & 2010: Initial exploration concessions were granted and reiterated.
2015 & 2018: Technical studies were authorized to define the project’s scope.
Present: Under the current administration, the project remained strictly in the environmental evaluation phase.
“No authorization for exploitation has ever been granted under our management,” Abinader emphasized. “My commitment is to the country, its people, and its future.”
By halting the evaluation process, the government would be shelving a project that has been estimated to contain over 2 million ounces of gold. The Abinader administration, as have past governments, gives priority to social stability and environmental protection over immediate extractive revenue.
Opposition to the GoldQuest “Romero Project” was growing. The mayor of San Juan de la Maguana city recently also said “no” and had joined the “Water Yes, Gold No” movement. Previously, the San Juan de la Maguana senator had adamantly protested the mine and called for the government instead to expand the projected “water storage projects.” Protests continued in the San Juan River basin.
The National Police dispersed a protest that turned violent. The Police suspected infiltrators threw rocks to disrupt the protest.
Reactions to the President’s “no” to exploitation of gold in San Juan de la Maguana
After the announcement by the President, Cesar Dargam, the vice president of the National Business Council (Conep), expressed his disagreement on his X account:
“President @luisabinader has been characterized by his vocation for consensus, with prudence, sensitivity, and empathy. However, I disagree with the ‘halt of any activity related to the Romero Project’ as it raises questions about safeguarding clear and evidence-based institutional processes. The potential for responsible mining in the DR is immense, and possible with social, environmental, and economic balance.”
On the other side, the United Southwest Movement for Water and Life, which led the call for the anti-mining march in San Juan, thanked President Luis Abinader for the decision to “immediately halt” “any activity” related to the Romero mining project in the province.
Rubén Moreta, who serves as the spokesperson for the group, stated that they now expect the President to formalize this decision through a presidential decree.
“We only have to wait for him to formalize it through a presidential decree, so that not only the Romero project, but every extractive process in the entire Cordillera Central is eliminated, to give peace of mind to the country, because the Cordillera Central is the mother of all waters,” Moreta stated.
Read more:
Presidencia
CDN
CDN
El Caribe
El Caribe
El Dia
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
N Digital
N Digital
X Cesar Dargam
Ministry of Environment
DR1 News
DR1 News
DR1 News
5 May 2026