Max Puig resigns cabinet post

[NewsWhore]

Presidential environmental advisor Max Puig has resigned his post. He sent a letter to the President announcing his decision. As reported in Saturday's Diario Libre, Puig said that his decision was based on the corruption he had to confront during his three years as minister of environment. President Fernandez removed him from the post in August and appointed him as his environmental advisor. "You, better than anyone, knows what we had to do to confront the corrupt elements from different political inclinations that tried, and are still trying, unfortunately, to reduce the protected areas of the country," stated Puig. Puig resigned on 28 August, eight days after the President removed him from his post as minister of environment and only seven days after being appointed advisor and minister without portfolio. Puig states that he did not feel he could best serve the country from that post. Shortly before his removal, Puig banned construction aggregate companies from extracting building materials from riverbeds. Environmentalists have commented that the new minister of environment, Omar Ramirez, is ambivalent in enforcing the new measure, changing the wording to a decision that gives the companies time to announce how they will discontinue their operations, as reported in Diario Libre. The press has reported on permits issued after Puig's departure from the Ministry, such as a permit for the construction of an aqueduct in Loma de Quita Espuela by INAPA on 22 August and a permit for the construction within the 60 meters for Tourism Minsiter Felix Jimenez's Vistamare tourism project in Samana on 28 August. During his term, Puig opposed the construction of hotels in the Jaragua National Park's Bahia de las Aguilas and in the National Park of the East (Bayahibe area) that were endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism.
In his letter of resignation, Puig says that his party, the Alianza por la Democracia, would continue to support President Leonel Fernandez's re-election campaign.

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