NewsWhore
06-05-2007, 02:30 PM
Spanish hotel chain Grupo Pinero has told Diario Libre that it has put the construction of its new Bahia Principe Bayahibe on hold after receiving a notification from the Ministry of Environment. The Ministry objected to the hotel's construction in the National Park of the East, which is under Ministry of Environment jurisdiction. The company Inversiones Coconut S.A. had received a certificate of no-objection from the Ministry of Tourism for the construction on 10 January 2006.
Yesterday's Diario Libre highlighted comments by environmentalist Eleuterio Martinez on the multiple environmental violations by Bahia Principe hotels in the country. These include the first Bahia Principe San Juan in Maria Trinidad Sanchez province on the north coast, which was built in a mangrove area, with more rooms than the authorized limit for the zone and within the 60-meter coastal limit. Furthermore, the newspaper points out that groups in Samana have criticized the chain's privatization of beaches and the company's failure to present environmental permits for the expansion undertaken at the Cayo Levantado hotel.
Grupo Pinero operates the Bahia Principe Punta Cana and Bahia Principe Bavaro on the east coast. The Bahia Principe La Romana (former Santana Beach Resort) is scheduled for opening in November 2007. The Spanish chain's first hotel in the Dominican Republic was the Bahia Principe San Juan, in Maria Trinidad Sanchez province on the north coast. The chain is the largest single player in tourism in Samana on the north east Coast, with concessions to operate the Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado, Bahia Principe Cayacoa and ownership of the Bahia Principe Samana (former Gran Bahia) and Bahia Principe El Portillo (former Portillo Beach Resort).
The Coalition for the Defense of Protected areas has criticized the Ministry of Tourism for granting the no-objection permit for the hotel's construction in the National Park of the East. As reported in Diario Libre, the no-objection was granted based on recommendations contained in a land use report contracted by the Ministry of Tourism to French businessman Francoise Fontes. The Ministry of Tourism also entrusted Fontes with the preparation of the land use plan for Samana. Fontes is best known, nevertheless, for the controversial proposal for construction of eco-lodges in the Bahia de las Aguilas protected area in the remote southwestern province of Pedernales, a proposal in which the government was asked to contribute the Bahia de las Aguilas beach lands to the project.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
Yesterday's Diario Libre highlighted comments by environmentalist Eleuterio Martinez on the multiple environmental violations by Bahia Principe hotels in the country. These include the first Bahia Principe San Juan in Maria Trinidad Sanchez province on the north coast, which was built in a mangrove area, with more rooms than the authorized limit for the zone and within the 60-meter coastal limit. Furthermore, the newspaper points out that groups in Samana have criticized the chain's privatization of beaches and the company's failure to present environmental permits for the expansion undertaken at the Cayo Levantado hotel.
Grupo Pinero operates the Bahia Principe Punta Cana and Bahia Principe Bavaro on the east coast. The Bahia Principe La Romana (former Santana Beach Resort) is scheduled for opening in November 2007. The Spanish chain's first hotel in the Dominican Republic was the Bahia Principe San Juan, in Maria Trinidad Sanchez province on the north coast. The chain is the largest single player in tourism in Samana on the north east Coast, with concessions to operate the Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado, Bahia Principe Cayacoa and ownership of the Bahia Principe Samana (former Gran Bahia) and Bahia Principe El Portillo (former Portillo Beach Resort).
The Coalition for the Defense of Protected areas has criticized the Ministry of Tourism for granting the no-objection permit for the hotel's construction in the National Park of the East. As reported in Diario Libre, the no-objection was granted based on recommendations contained in a land use report contracted by the Ministry of Tourism to French businessman Francoise Fontes. The Ministry of Tourism also entrusted Fontes with the preparation of the land use plan for Samana. Fontes is best known, nevertheless, for the controversial proposal for construction of eco-lodges in the Bahia de las Aguilas protected area in the remote southwestern province of Pedernales, a proposal in which the government was asked to contribute the Bahia de las Aguilas beach lands to the project.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)