A dispute by owners of a lot in Bavaro (Arena Gorda) against vendors who occupy the beachfront of the property will now pass to the Constitutional Court, the highest level of the judiciary. The Supreme Court of Justice already gave its opinion in favor of the vendors on November 2012. Both the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environment refuse to get involved, leaving the case of the investors versus the Asociacion de Vendedores Artesanales de la Provincia La Altagracia (Asavepa) made up of 280 vendors, to the judiciary. The case has been in the courts for the last 20 years.
The owner of the lot, Inversiones Alana, which wants to build a US$200 million hotel (678 rooms) on the property that is next door to Ocean Blue resort, says that Art. 15 of the Constitution on water resources states: Domestic rivers, lakes, ponds, beaches and coasts are part of the public domain and shall be freely accessible, subject always to existing private property rights.”
The vendors say that the 60 meters of beach are in the public domain, according to Art. 147 of Law 64-00.
www.diariolibre.com/destacada/2013/07/19/i393536_disputa-por-uso-playa.html