Environment admits it goofed

[NewsWhore]

Environment Minister Omar Ramirez has admitted that his ministry "poorly handled" the case of the MC Trinidad, the cargo vessel that docked at Barahona and tried to offload toxic waste. The minister, Omar Ramirez Tejada, told Diario Libre reporter Wanda Peralta that the director of Environmental Quality, Felipe Ditren and the director of Environmental Protection, Jaime Lockward, together with the technician Eladino Lopez Aquino were those who mishandled the case. The report filed by the Ministry says that it was a big mistake to issue a Certificate of No Objection before a full analysis of the materials on board the vessel had been made. This was the job assigned to Eladino Lopez, who "was never physically aboard the ship." The permission was granted over the phone. Ditren and Lockward are accused of not verifying the case documentation. Ditren and Lockward have resigned from the Ministry and Lopez was suspended for 90 days without pay. Community groups gave the alert, and found support from the Department of Customs in time to avoid the unloading of the toxic shipment.

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