NewsWhore
09-21-2009, 04:00 PM
Community leaders in Cabarete are marveling at the pristine, empty beaches the Ministry of Tourism is featuring in its new advertising campaign. But they warn that the advertising is misleading, as the reality is quite different in many Dominican beaches, besieged by conflicting developer interests.
Long-timers from Cabarete are concerned that President Leonel Fernandez may be ready to sign a decree that would formally sentence Cabarete to becoming just another tourist trap. They fear the signing of the decree would kill Cabarete's medium and long-term interests.
The President has said he plans to sign a decree authorizing the increase of the height of condominiums on the beach to 4 floors, up from 3. Local experts say that the 4-story buildings will not stop the wind from blowing in from the ocean. But it could create turbulence along the beach that prevents the launch of kite boards and windsurfing. Without kites in the air and windsurfers ripping the water, Cabarete will lose its attractiveness and will become just another boring destination of cement buildings clustered along a highway, say local entrepreneurs.
There is also concern that the decree may authorize much more, including higher heights for condos on the other side of the beach strip.
Cabarete business representatives say that complicity with the authorities and profiteering by business groups has gradually undermined Cabarete's attractiveness as a wind sports destination over recent years. The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete and the Association for Protection of Environment and Tourism of Cabarete and Sosua (Asoprocaso) have just published a newsletter listing a series of zoning law violations over the years, to inform the general public of what is happening, and to support the campaign against the degradation of the destination.
"In its recent advertising campaign, the Ministry of Tourism presents the DR as a country with deserted beaches, lots of vegetation and low-level constructions. The beaches are real, but the reality is different in most of the tourism areas, as is the case of Cabarete. "In recent years, corruption in the tourism, environment and public works authorities, and in municipalities, has led to total anarchy in the constructions," says Omar Bros for FCS.
"Little by little, unscrupulous builders (investors) have eliminated the natural beauty of Cabarete beach, destroying the dunes and replacing them with concrete walls several hundred meters long, violating Law 305 that establishes a coastal-marine spread of 60 meters. They also violate the decree that establishes the 11.5-meter maximum construction height for this tourism area, ignoring the regulations approved by the authorities, or looking the other way," he reports.
The bulletin presents several examples of construction right within 30 meters from the ocean. They also warn about the illegal but growing practice of extracting sand from the dunes in La Lometa, in Gaspar Hernandez.
"In all of the zone, from Cabarete to Gaspar Hernandez, from the coast to Jamao, there has been a true stampede of truckers to extract sand on all fronts. It is almost as if the Ministry of Environment had used a gun to mark the start of the greatest depredation of years," he writes.
To receive the bulletin and read the story on unsustainable tourism issues, go to www.cabarete-info.com/cabarete_info.php?opt=view&id=56 (http://www.cabarete-info.com/cabarete_info.php?opt=view&id=56)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
Long-timers from Cabarete are concerned that President Leonel Fernandez may be ready to sign a decree that would formally sentence Cabarete to becoming just another tourist trap. They fear the signing of the decree would kill Cabarete's medium and long-term interests.
The President has said he plans to sign a decree authorizing the increase of the height of condominiums on the beach to 4 floors, up from 3. Local experts say that the 4-story buildings will not stop the wind from blowing in from the ocean. But it could create turbulence along the beach that prevents the launch of kite boards and windsurfing. Without kites in the air and windsurfers ripping the water, Cabarete will lose its attractiveness and will become just another boring destination of cement buildings clustered along a highway, say local entrepreneurs.
There is also concern that the decree may authorize much more, including higher heights for condos on the other side of the beach strip.
Cabarete business representatives say that complicity with the authorities and profiteering by business groups has gradually undermined Cabarete's attractiveness as a wind sports destination over recent years. The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete and the Association for Protection of Environment and Tourism of Cabarete and Sosua (Asoprocaso) have just published a newsletter listing a series of zoning law violations over the years, to inform the general public of what is happening, and to support the campaign against the degradation of the destination.
"In its recent advertising campaign, the Ministry of Tourism presents the DR as a country with deserted beaches, lots of vegetation and low-level constructions. The beaches are real, but the reality is different in most of the tourism areas, as is the case of Cabarete. "In recent years, corruption in the tourism, environment and public works authorities, and in municipalities, has led to total anarchy in the constructions," says Omar Bros for FCS.
"Little by little, unscrupulous builders (investors) have eliminated the natural beauty of Cabarete beach, destroying the dunes and replacing them with concrete walls several hundred meters long, violating Law 305 that establishes a coastal-marine spread of 60 meters. They also violate the decree that establishes the 11.5-meter maximum construction height for this tourism area, ignoring the regulations approved by the authorities, or looking the other way," he reports.
The bulletin presents several examples of construction right within 30 meters from the ocean. They also warn about the illegal but growing practice of extracting sand from the dunes in La Lometa, in Gaspar Hernandez.
"In all of the zone, from Cabarete to Gaspar Hernandez, from the coast to Jamao, there has been a true stampede of truckers to extract sand on all fronts. It is almost as if the Ministry of Environment had used a gun to mark the start of the greatest depredation of years," he writes.
To receive the bulletin and read the story on unsustainable tourism issues, go to www.cabarete-info.com/cabarete_info.php?opt=view&id=56 (http://www.cabarete-info.com/cabarete_info.php?opt=view&id=56)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)