Coalition calls for transparency

[NewsWhore]

The Coalition for the Defense of the Protected Areas is lobbying for transparency and legality, while it favors changes be made to Sectorial Law 202-04 on protected areas. In an advertisement published today in the Listin Diario, the Coalition states: "In recent years the protected areas of the Dominican Republic have been systemically threatened by interests tied to all kinds of characters: real estate speculators, clientelistic senators and deputies, lobbyists of all kinds, government officers of high rank more concerned with their own businesses than with the national interest, irresponsible tourism entrepreneurs, corrupt judges, dishonest title registrars and mafias that are experts in forging property titles, among others," writes the organization that groups several of the most prominent environmental organizations in the country. The organization clarifies that the management and care of the parks is a function of the Ministry of Environment, and advocates for changes to make this more adequate to conserve Dominican biodiversity and provide the country with the necessary tools for their orderly and transparent management. The Coalition says that while it is the role of Congress to draft and modify laws, it "does not see with good eyes," the procedure the legislature has undertaken so far to modify the Law 202-04 and said that the claim by the Minister of Environment of lack of transparency in the actions taken by the legislature to modify the law is a responsible one.

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