The Senate has approved a first reading of the bill aimed at naming Loma Miranda in La Vega a national park. The status will prevent commercial activity from taking place within the park. Votes in favor of the park were cast by senators Reinaldo Pared Perez, Cristina Lizardo, Euclides Sanchez, Adriano Sanchez Roa, Julio Cesar Valentin, Rafael Calderon, Manuel Guichardo, Manuel Paula, Luis Rene Canaan, Prim Pujals, Juan Olando Mercedes, Felix Vasquez, Eddy Mateo Vasquez, Jose Rafael Vargas, Dionis Sanchez, Francis Vargas, Aristides Victoria, Ruben Dario Cruz, Wilton Guerrero, Amilcar Romero, Ivonne Chain, Amarilis Santana, Carlos Castillo and Charlie Mariotti. Senator Felix Nova of Monsenor Nouel, who voted against, said the bill violated the property owners’ rights to fair compensation. He said the bill was a strong blow to foreign investment. Xstrata Falcondo owns property on the hill where they seek to develop a mining concession.
A second reading is necessary and then the bill would need to return to the Chamber of Deputies because changes have been made. The senators increased the cost of mining licenses in order to generate funds to compensate property owners. Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez says that the Loma Miranda experience is strong indicator that the country needs to define its mining policies. The former UNDP representative in the country, Valerie Julliand, expressed the same opinion prior to leaving the DR, after UN consultants rejected the environmental impact study presented by Xstrata Falcondo.
Legal consultants for the mining sector, including Eduardo Jorge Prats, president of the Dominican Geology Society Eduardo Verdeja and Jose Sena, president of the Mining and Petroleum Chamber and Falconbridge Dominicana legal advisor Jose Caceres said that the hill should be protected but at a lower level, not as a national park. Jorge Prats said that studies have not been carried out to support the validity of declaring the hill a national park. He said the focus of the bill approved in the Senate, more than to protect the area, is to ensure that certain owners in the area receive compensation. Verdeja added that the bill has serious technical errors that could confuse the general public, such as the amount of water resources. Sena said there were conditions under which mining could take place while protecting the environment.
Jose Caceres argued: “What is correct, according to the constitution, is for the branches of government to work to develop principles that are in harmony and guarantee that the best use is made of mining resources.”
One of the strongest factors against Xstrata Falcondo’s bid to continue mining is the dire state of the areas around their previous mining site, Loma Peguero in Monsenor Nouel province.
The Medina administration, that has been pro mining seeing it as an important revenue-generating sector for the government, recently appointed a new Minister of Energy and Mines as part of a push to reorganize the mining sector.
http://listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/6/12/325564/El-Senado-aprueba-Loma-Miranda-sea-declarada-Parque-Nacional
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/06/12/i652861_expertos-piden-mesura-con-declaracin-del-parque-nacional-loma-miranda.html