NewsWhore
04-18-2006, 03:10 PM
Adolfo Lopez, of the Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas, sent a letter to Minister of Tourism Felix Jimenez saying he was mistaken in suggesting that French architect Francois Fontes and the Minister were partners. Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez and Luc Litzler of Argos, S.A. denied the accusation. In a copy of the letter published in Clave Digital, Lopez says that the error of perception was due to "ambiguities in the information provided about the plans for development of Bahia de las Aguilas". He said he erred because of the Minister's staunch defense of Fontes' work. "The hiring of Fontes' services by Mr. Jimenez to carry out work for the Ministry, without a tender; the fact that Mr. Jimenez' private businesses are of a real estate nature and located in tourist areas; the fact that Mr. Jimenez has contracted Fontes to carry out the ground use plan for several tourism areas" are some of the reasons he mentions that led him to make the error of linking Jimenez and Fontes as partners. "Definitely, the close relationship between Jimenez and Fontes was the cause for the error, and this has not been clarified by the Minister of Tourism and Fontes," wrote Lopez, who apologized to the Minister. Lopez is a Spanish environmental activist who has carried out work for the Coalition, the Museum of Dominican Man, the National Hotels Association and the Bayahibe Hotel Association, among other organizations.
Lopez maintains his criticism of the project saying that what has been presented is but "a letter of intent, a very elegant one certainly, but with nothing to do with a presentation of a project because there are no architectural renditions, nor details, nor studies of any kind. Please, if there is really a project, I beg that it be sent to us," he says in his letter.
Argos, a French company with registered capital of EUR38,000 presented President Leonel Fernandez with a proposal for the construction of a US$600 million tourism project in Pedernales.
In a letter to Adolfo Lopez, Argos denied that the Ministry of Tourism had entrusted Argos with the preparation of a ground use plan for Bahia de las Aguilas and Pedernales.
Ministry of Tourism spokesperson Anna Jimenez had responded to inquiries about the incongruity between the low registered capital and the size of the investment by explaining that Argos is the company that carried out the studies to determine the density parameters for construction of hotel rooms in the coastal areas, not the investors in the project.
Lopez encourages Argos to look beyond the UNESCO biosphere reserve and consider investments in the adjacent beach areas in Pedernales that are outside the protected site.
In addition to Argos, the Presidency announced following the presentation that a company known as Grupo Mogador is proposing the investment.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
Lopez maintains his criticism of the project saying that what has been presented is but "a letter of intent, a very elegant one certainly, but with nothing to do with a presentation of a project because there are no architectural renditions, nor details, nor studies of any kind. Please, if there is really a project, I beg that it be sent to us," he says in his letter.
Argos, a French company with registered capital of EUR38,000 presented President Leonel Fernandez with a proposal for the construction of a US$600 million tourism project in Pedernales.
In a letter to Adolfo Lopez, Argos denied that the Ministry of Tourism had entrusted Argos with the preparation of a ground use plan for Bahia de las Aguilas and Pedernales.
Ministry of Tourism spokesperson Anna Jimenez had responded to inquiries about the incongruity between the low registered capital and the size of the investment by explaining that Argos is the company that carried out the studies to determine the density parameters for construction of hotel rooms in the coastal areas, not the investors in the project.
Lopez encourages Argos to look beyond the UNESCO biosphere reserve and consider investments in the adjacent beach areas in Pedernales that are outside the protected site.
In addition to Argos, the Presidency announced following the presentation that a company known as Grupo Mogador is proposing the investment.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)