“The first thing the minister should have done was to flatly reject any attempt to touch this reserve. It is a lung of Greater Santo Domingo and not an inch should be yielded,” he maintained.
Government’s irresponsible handling denounced in attempt to intervene the Botanical Garden: “Not an inch will be yielded”
Santo Domingo. – The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), along with citizens, activists, and social organizations, denounced this Sunday what they consider a direct threat to the Dr. Rafael Maria Moscoso National Botanical Garden, after learning of the expansion plans for the República de Colombia avenue that could affect part of this scientific reserve.
During the demonstration called by filmmaker José María Cabral and held on the main esplanade of the Botanical Garden, the head of the Ministry of Environment of the PLD, Alfonso Ureña, accused the Ministry of Environment of acting irresponsibly by agreeing to evaluate the request for terms of reference for said project.
Ureña criticized that Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton tries to minimize the impact by alleging that only 0.01% of the land would be affected. “That is a strategy to justify an act that would open the door to the systematic deterioration of green areas in Santo Domingo. We already saw it in the Olympic Center, where more than 300 trees were cut down without permits or environmental criteria,” he denounced.
For her part, the PLD vice president, Zoraima Cuello, described the situation as an “imminent setback” in environmental matters and in other sectors of the country. “We raise our voice and join the call of all Dominicans to seek real solutions. There are alternatives. Our party prepared a comprehensive Mobility Plan that takes into account mass transit, pedestrians, and the preservation of green areas,” she affirmed.
Cuello lamented that decisions are being made “specific decisions that solve nothing”, and denounced that public spaces such as Mirador Sur, the Olympic Center and the Nizao River are being mutilated, without considering the ecological or social impacts. “Life is also nature. Any mutilation of the Botanical Garden is an attack against the well-being of all Dominicans,” he stated.
In support of the protest, city councilor Jorge Félix Pacheco was also present, who warned about the serious deficit of green areas in the city. “The WHO recommends at least 9 m² of green areas per inhabitant. In Santo Domingo we barely have less than 4 m². It’s crazy to want to mutilate the Botanical Garden,” he expressed. “We are still thinking about streets for vehicles and not for people. The true protagonist of the urban space is the citizen, not the car. The Botanical Garden is not to be touched,” he concluded.
The demonstration has brought together hundreds of citizens committed to defending the environment, who demand that the Government reconsider any plan that involves the intervention of protected areas and that, instead, prioritize sustainable and comprehensive solutions.
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