Santiago students participated in protests yesterday to denounce a bill being presented by the Executive Branch that would effectively remove the protected status of several environmentally fragile areas belonging to national parks. President Hipolito Mejia supports the commercial development of these areas. Members of the Sociedad Ecologica del Cibao (SOECI), Juventud Ecologica and middle-school students from several private schools in the Santiago vicinity demonstrated by marching past the city government building of Santiago. Student Ivonne Tejada said that the youth of Santiago want to reach the senators and deputies to express their opposition to the legislature?s professed intention to sever the protected areas. The bill as originally approved by Congress was vetoed by the President and returned due to technical errors. The new proposal nevertheless retains stipulations to remove several mountain and beach areas for development of touristic and commercial ventures.
On Friday, 4 June at 6:30pm a debate on the impact of the newly-drawn up Sectoral Protected Areas Bill will take place at the auditorium of the Centro Leon in Santiago. The event is on occasion of World Environment Day and is being organized by the Sociedad Ecologica del Cibao (SOECI), the group that has assumed a new lead in protesting the intentions of the Executive Branch to fragment various National Park areas.
Other two areas suffering major mutilations are the Parque del Este in the east and Parque Jaragua in the southwest.