NewsWhore
09-04-2006, 05:40 PM
In a contribution to Saturday's Diario Libre, Simon Guerrero comments that considering the fact that the Spanish ambassador has complained bitterly about the problems experienced by Spanish investors when doing business in the DR, due to corruption, she would do the country a great service if she applied to her fellow Spaniards the anti-bribery laws in effect in the European Union that penalize businessmen who resort to illicit practices to achieve their commercial objectives. Guerrero is referring to the Ministry of Environment's ban on the import of four dolphins from Cuba for the Manati Park installation in Bavaro.
Guerrero writes that Manati Park has a campaign under way that presents the Ministry of Environment's denial of permission as a negative for the tourism industry. The opposite is the case, writes Guerrero. "The repeated practice of importing animals that are then kept in unsuitable conditions could lead powerful North American and European environmental groups to declare a boycott against Dominican tourism, accusing us of animal cruelty," he writes. "In fact, when two of these dolphins died, the Ministry of Tourism received over a thousand e-mails denouncing this to the world," he explains. He adds that due to these e-mails, the Dominican authorities became aware (four months later) of the death of the animals, as they had not been reported by the company. Instead, he explains that when an explanation into the cause of the deaths was required, the company stated that it had incinerated the dolphins without carrying out autopsies. Guerrero says that months later the company produced autopsy results from an unknown British laboratory in order to comply with requirements for the purchase of four more dolphins, and comments that it is a strange case of an autopsy carried out on ashes.
Guerrero points out the contributions to the Dominican environment by Proyecto Araucaria in the southwest of the DR, and laments the fact that two or three unscrupulous Spaniards are damaging Spain's image.
Cicom travel newsletter comments on a 30 August Diario Digital RD story that speculates that the Manati Park case could be behind Spanish Ambassador Almudena Mazarraza's recent complaints about the lack of supposedly juridical guarantees for foreign investors doing business in the DR.
Guerrero explains: "When they were denied permission to import the dolphins, they availed themselves of an irregular permit issued in 2004 that did not have an expiry date, to purchase four dolphins in Cuba, which were loaded onto a airplane to be brought to the country through Punta Cana Airport, without the corresponding permit from the Department of Wildlife, trusting that they could break the law using bribery and blackmail."
http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=77645
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)
Guerrero writes that Manati Park has a campaign under way that presents the Ministry of Environment's denial of permission as a negative for the tourism industry. The opposite is the case, writes Guerrero. "The repeated practice of importing animals that are then kept in unsuitable conditions could lead powerful North American and European environmental groups to declare a boycott against Dominican tourism, accusing us of animal cruelty," he writes. "In fact, when two of these dolphins died, the Ministry of Tourism received over a thousand e-mails denouncing this to the world," he explains. He adds that due to these e-mails, the Dominican authorities became aware (four months later) of the death of the animals, as they had not been reported by the company. Instead, he explains that when an explanation into the cause of the deaths was required, the company stated that it had incinerated the dolphins without carrying out autopsies. Guerrero says that months later the company produced autopsy results from an unknown British laboratory in order to comply with requirements for the purchase of four more dolphins, and comments that it is a strange case of an autopsy carried out on ashes.
Guerrero points out the contributions to the Dominican environment by Proyecto Araucaria in the southwest of the DR, and laments the fact that two or three unscrupulous Spaniards are damaging Spain's image.
Cicom travel newsletter comments on a 30 August Diario Digital RD story that speculates that the Manati Park case could be behind Spanish Ambassador Almudena Mazarraza's recent complaints about the lack of supposedly juridical guarantees for foreign investors doing business in the DR.
Guerrero explains: "When they were denied permission to import the dolphins, they availed themselves of an irregular permit issued in 2004 that did not have an expiry date, to purchase four dolphins in Cuba, which were loaded onto a airplane to be brought to the country through Punta Cana Airport, without the corresponding permit from the Department of Wildlife, trusting that they could break the law using bribery and blackmail."
http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=77645
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)