The Environment Ministry has denied that significant amounts of sand for construction are being extracted from environmentally sensitive areas such as the Yaque and Jimenoa rivers, and that fears were being exaggerated for party political purposes. However, environmental campaigners Carlos Senci?n and Luis Carvajal from the Academy of Sciences, quoted in El Caribe, claim that the adverse ecological effects are already being felt in areas round the popular bathing spot La Confluencia, where the two rivers meet, and that local farmers were having their crops ruined by the sand extraction trucks that cross their fields to access the riverbank.. They also warned that the longer term consequences could be more serious and that the authorities need to exercise stronger controls.