Abreu pleads for border

[NewsWhore]

Bishop Tomas Abreu is asking legislators to leave Law 28-01 alone. The fiscal reform bill submitted by the Executive Branch would revoke these incentives. This law establishes incentives for investment in industrial assembly facilities with duty free status in the poorest provinces along the north-western frontier. The former bishop of the Mao-Montecristi diocese, a long time advocate for the region's development, told reporters from El Caribe that any changes to the law would be disastrous. According to the bishop, approval of the legislation as it now stands would create a mass exodus from the frontier provinces towards the major cities. Rumualdo Estevez, one of the original proponents of Law 28-01, told the reporters that if the incentives to invest along the frontier are removed, this could even lead to reduced safety for many citizens. Other experts in the region agree that any changes to the law would crush expectations of progress that the law has inspired in residents of the frontier region. Bishop Abreu said that the legislators would be "poor Dominicans" if they eliminated the few remaining Special Development Zone incentives.

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