Santo Domingo, R.D. – Hundreds of people, represented by the lawyers of the
Institute of Lawyers for the Protection of the Environment (Insaproma), filed a complaint this Tuesday against corruption and pollution derived from the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant. The legal action was filed with the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (
Pepca) and the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Defense of the Environment and Natural Resources (PROEDEMAREN).
The lawsuit, which includes the constitution of a civil plaintiff, requests a joint compensation of 3 billion dollars for the damages caused to the communities and the Dominican State, due to the corruption and pollution associated with the plant located in the province of Peravia.
Among the requested measures is the substitution of fossil fuels for renewable energy within a period of no more than four years and the elimination of the toxic ashes accumulated in the batey San José, in the municipal district of Catalina.
Likewise, imprisonment and millionaire fines are requested against former President Danilo Medina, former ministers and current ministers of Environment and Energy and Mines, as well as sanctions against Odebrecht, Tecnimont, Grupo Estrella and the Empresa de Generación Eléctrica Punta Catalina (EGEPC).
The lawsuit details damage to the health of the population, agricultural production, fishing, coastal life, and the flooding of the Sabana Uvero de Paya coastline, attributed to the diversion of the marine current by the breakwater of the Punta Catalina coal port.
The document also includes the testimonies of experts such as electromechanical engineer Raúl Cabrera, agronomist Milton Martínez, epidemiologist Carlos Sánchez, botanist Luis Carvajal, chemist Marcos Rodríguez, and coastal expert Adrián Gutiérrez. Among the international witnesses cited is Lauri Myllyvirta, from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), from Finland.
