With anger and expressions of disgust, farmers and representatives of the Association of Horticultural Producers of La Horma (Asoprohorma) left the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Mmarn), after meeting for an hour with Miguel Ceara Hatton, head Of the entity.
The reason was, according to the Environment, to negotiate payments to the occupants of agricultural properties in the Valle Nuevo Vertiente Sur National Park, in the San José de Ocoa province.
The meeting, which began at 12:16 noon until 1:23 in the afternoon (according to the arrival and departure of the official to the Multipurpose Hall of the institution’s headquarters), was not successful for the producers, who also avoided at all costs to be approached by the press, which they accused of being against them.
This occurs with regard to the expiration of the eviction terms of the aforementioned National Park.
When talking to this medium, the farmers pointed out that they should go to the area to see “what is there and what is not.”
The disgust with the Environment was so great that some refused to take the plate that the agency gave them, apparently for lunch.
The producers stated that they have not established themselves in the Valley, but rather in the southern part of San José de Ocoa, a space that, according to their version, was later said to belong to the protected area.
Likewise, the farmers attacked the pronouncements of Francisco Domínguez Brito and Belkis García, former Minister of the Environment and president of the Cibao Ecological Society (Soeci), who have asked the government entity to evict “the invaders” from Valle as soon as possible. New.
“What does Belkis García know about that,” said one of the visibly upset farmers.
Environment promises payment
“We are going to pay them, we are simply in an evaluation process (…), we are in that process”, were the words of Ceara Hatton, when she was leaving in a hurry and a team from elCaribe fell behind her and asked her about what was discussed in the meeting, without the minister explaining when the payment will be or the next meeting.
In this sense, the farmers and representatives of the Association of Horticultural Producers of La Horma demanded payment and expressed disagreement with the state entity.
“Let them pay us our money,” some of its members commented to each other outside the building.
Seeks short-term cessation of cultivation in Valle Nuevo
The Ministry of the Environment reported yesterday that the meeting is part of the follow-up to resolution 0034-2021 of said body, which establishes the steps to follow for the start of the “Rescue Plan for the South Slope of the Valle Nuevo National Park.” The project includes the relocation of 53 farmers or vulnerable occupants, in a territory that was delimited by the Dominican Agrarian Institute in the province of Azua.
