35 arraigned on charges of setting fires

[NewsWhore]

The National Environmental Protection Service reported that it had arrested and arraigned 35 persons on charges of setting fires in protected areas. According to the Listin Diario, another 43 Haitians were delivered to Migration authorities for deportation. The NEPS is a division of the Ministry of the Environment and is headed by Colonel Francisco Santo Tolentino. He said that they were looking for a person known as "El Chamo" who is said to be responsible for the felling of different types of trees in order to impede access to the areas where the fires are set as part of the slash and burn farming practice. He said that Dominicans are paying Haitians to cut down the trees in order to grow crops in the Los Haitises National Park, and he added that contrary to some comments made in the media, these farmers are not doing this to feed their families but rather to supply the local demand for the crops of name (yams) and yautias.

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