Ministry has submitted 2,300 cases for environmental crimes

The head of the Environment ensures that 95 percent of forest fires are caused in the country.

A tree that is burned or cut indiscriminately, the illegal extraction of material from a river and the voluntary destruction of ecosystems, all these actions constitute environmental damage or crime.

For such cases, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources says to apply a policy of no tolerance against those activities that threaten the natural heritage of the Dominican Republic.

In this fight, Minister Orlando Jorge Mera has faced various sectors, including large companies and even members of the National Police. He assures that in less than two years he has made 2,300 submissions to the action of justice.

The attacks on the environment range from violations of environmental permits, farms that operate illegally, felling of trees, to trying to eliminate mangroves and wetlands.

“This is extremely serious,” deplores Jorge Mera in the special elCaribe-CDN interview, explaining the actions and projects carried out by the institution.

“I can cite the case of Colonel Palavé, we have brought that colonel to justice and he still persists in carrying out illegal activities. We are not going to stop until we see it sanctioned by justice, ”he warned.

In January of this year, Minister Jorge Mera sued Pedro Marte Palavé, a colonel of the National Police, accused of illegally extracting aggregate material from a mine located less than 15 meters from the banks of the Haina River in the province of San Cristobal.

Due to the fact, the institution of order proceeded to suspend this member, who is being investigated by Internal Affairs.

Forest fires

Forest fires also represent a concern for the entity, even more so when 95 percent are caused by human actions, says the Minister of the Environment.

“Forest fires in the Dominican Republic are caused by man, sometimes intentionally and other times unintentionally,” said Jorge Mera.

He reported that the investigations of the fires in Sierra de Bahoruco have been concluded and an investigation has already been opened for those caused intentionally in San José de las Matas, the results of which will be presented in the coming days.

“Unfortunately, forest fires have been caused to generate illegal wood cutting. We are not going to allow that and we are going to apply the full weight of the law,” said the official.

little vigilance

The head of the Environment recognized that the institution does not have the financial capacity to have a staff in the rivers, mountains and places where permanent presence is needed to avoid these types of environmental damage.

Given this weakness, the ministry operates on the basis of complaints and official actions, in addition to municipal representation.

Environment will close 60 landfills this year
The Ministry of the Environment is transversal throughout the national territory and its coasts, therefore it has a diversity of priority and urgent issues.

“Our priority at this time is to combat the main pollution that is open-air landfills. We have around 240 open-air dumps,” the minister specified.

In that sense, he maintained that with the Solid Waste Law and the public-private trust, an opportunity opens up to begin attacking this source of contamination, for which a plan was contemplated for this year in which tourist areas such as Puerto Plata , Samaná and the East of the country are a priority.

“There are 30 municipalities that total 60 landfills that at the end of the year we will be in a position to say that we have made progress in closing those 60 landfills and providing the municipalities with sanitary landfills and transfer stations. It is our main priority to provide a solution to what is the main cause of pollution that exists in our country”, he stressed.

A place for Duchess

In the particular case of Duquesa, he reported that the Government is proposing the technical closure of this landfill, for two or three years, in addition to identifying a place to establish a sanitary landfill in accordance with 21st century technologies, which at the same time allow the effective use of plastics.

He added that the Inter-American Development Bank and the Japanese Cooperation Agency presented a project, which has already been approved by the Ministry of Finance.

“It is an issue that we are working on and in the next month we will be in a position to produce an announcement on this matter,” he said.

The official assured that Duquesa in this administration has had an important change with the same budget. “You can no longer see the smoke that Duquesa caused a year ago and eight months ago. It is a landfill that is semi-controlled today, ”he said.

“We are working to define where the new sanitary landfill will be because, as we are aware of a litigation that is in arbitration over the Duquesa property, we are not going to risk making a series of investments in this place, knowing that there are a litigation and possibly a ruling will come, and we must think about where we should have a new sanitary landfill for the city of Santo Domingo”, he pointed out.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of the Environment reported that, in compliance with Law 225-20 on Comprehensive Management and Co-processing of Solid Waste, the process of regularizing 29 open-air dumps began, to reduce their quantity, guarantee good management of solid waste and reduce greenhouse gases.

Two weeks ago, the entity ordered the closure of the Cancino and San Luis waste deposits, in order to start the process of adjusting waste management to the new regulation.

The other step of the Ministry of the Environment was to enable the construction of a new transfer station in the old San Luis landfill, for the collection and correct transfer of waste to duly authorized landfills, with the financial support of the DO Sustainable Trust.

They will regulate medical waste

There is another situation that the Minister of the Environment describes as serious and delicate and that is the treatment and final disposal of medical and toxic waste.

“I must say it with all responsibility, private clinics and hospitals alike have nowhere to deposit medical waste, except Luis Eduardo Aybar, which already has a plant for the treatment of medical waste,” he said.

Given this reality, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Health Service and the Association of Private Clinics are working to find a solution for the immediate future.

“Journalistic work has been done that in the Ozama River in previous times, body parts have appeared, among other things, it is a reality that we have but it will take the necessary time,” he said.

Jorge Mera stressed that the Government, in its role of regulating and drawing up the rules, will make the corresponding tenders so that the private sector can present proposals so that the situation improves within a year.

A landfill for all of Santiago

By way of illustrating what is intended to be done with the transformation of open-air dumps to modern sanitary landfills, the minister gave the example of a northern province impacted by these pollution sources. “Santiago has around 10 to 12 municipalities. We are going to close all those landfills in those municipalities and we will establish the sanitary landfill that is in Rafey and we will put transfer stations in all the other municipalities”, he explained. Regarding the particular case of Tamboril, he reported that it is in the phase of technical closure of this true. Jorge Mera was accompanied by the Vice Minister of Coastal and Marine Resources, José Ramón Reyes, and the coordinator of the Vice Ministry of International Cooperation, Giselle Deñó.

Environmental damage
Unfortunately, forest fires have been caused to generate illegal wood cutting”