NewsWhore
02-26-2009, 03:40 PM
Several leading business organizations are urging the Puerto Plata municipality to give priority to supporting the development of a modern port for the city. The Puerto Plata Tourism & Cultural Cluster says that the city of Puerto Plata has repeatedly asked for the land to be used to build a Tourist and Cargo Port, which they consider the number one priority for the definite development of the region. The Cluster raises a red alert that the municipality should not negotiate the purchase of any coastal lands with a third party, especially in the center of the Bay of Puerto Plata, because this would limit the development of the proposed port.
A Puerto Plata legislator has warned that negotiations are under way for the municipality to sell to the operators of the power plant where Smith-Enron originally built the plant that has been very detrimental to tourism and residential interests near the Costambar area. Deputy Carlos Martinez Arango says that the lands would be sold at RD$500 a square meter, when land in the area is valued at RD$3,000 a square meter. Deputy Martinez warned Mayor Walter Musa and Council leader Carlos Andres Gonzalez to desist from such an operation that they deem would be very harmful to the municipality of Puerto Plata, which owns the land, as reported in Diario Libre.
Martinez told Diario Libre that Smith and Enron made the purchase offer to the city government because the lease on the land is up in a year. He said that the ideal scenario would be for the power plant to be relocated to a site where it would be less harmful. He says it has been detrimental to Costambar and to the communities of La Habilla, Las Tres Palmas and San Marcos.
The alternative plan is to build a cruise ship port there that will bring thousands of tourists to the town of Puerto Plata. "There is no way that the city government should sell those lands to that company, when they know that it pollutes the coast and nearby communities," Martinez told Diario Libre. Organizations that oppose the sale of the lands to Smith-Enron also include the Association of Hotels and Tourism Companies of the North (ASHONORTE), the Playa Dorada Association (AHPD), the Tour Operators Organization (OPETUR), the Sosua and Cabarete Hotels & Restaurants Association (ASHORESOCA), the Cabarete Development Association (ADECA), the Atlantica Foundation, the American Chamber of Commerce-North Chapter, the Puerto Plata Chamber of Commerce, the Renovacion Cultural Society, the Puerto Plata Industrial Free Zone Corporation and the Federation of Taxi Unions (FETATURNO).
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
A Puerto Plata legislator has warned that negotiations are under way for the municipality to sell to the operators of the power plant where Smith-Enron originally built the plant that has been very detrimental to tourism and residential interests near the Costambar area. Deputy Carlos Martinez Arango says that the lands would be sold at RD$500 a square meter, when land in the area is valued at RD$3,000 a square meter. Deputy Martinez warned Mayor Walter Musa and Council leader Carlos Andres Gonzalez to desist from such an operation that they deem would be very harmful to the municipality of Puerto Plata, which owns the land, as reported in Diario Libre.
Martinez told Diario Libre that Smith and Enron made the purchase offer to the city government because the lease on the land is up in a year. He said that the ideal scenario would be for the power plant to be relocated to a site where it would be less harmful. He says it has been detrimental to Costambar and to the communities of La Habilla, Las Tres Palmas and San Marcos.
The alternative plan is to build a cruise ship port there that will bring thousands of tourists to the town of Puerto Plata. "There is no way that the city government should sell those lands to that company, when they know that it pollutes the coast and nearby communities," Martinez told Diario Libre. Organizations that oppose the sale of the lands to Smith-Enron also include the Association of Hotels and Tourism Companies of the North (ASHONORTE), the Playa Dorada Association (AHPD), the Tour Operators Organization (OPETUR), the Sosua and Cabarete Hotels & Restaurants Association (ASHORESOCA), the Cabarete Development Association (ADECA), the Atlantica Foundation, the American Chamber of Commerce-North Chapter, the Puerto Plata Chamber of Commerce, the Renovacion Cultural Society, the Puerto Plata Industrial Free Zone Corporation and the Federation of Taxi Unions (FETATURNO).
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)