El Cachón Neighborhood Associations demand community consultation before granting mining exploitation permits

The Los Almendros and Reyes Gómez Neighborhood Associations, community organizations of the El Cachón Municipal District, Santa Cruz de Barahona municipality, Barahona province, formally presented a Social Proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources demanding that, prior to the granting of any mining exploitation permit, material extraction, or impact on vegetation in the mountainous areas of their district, a mandatory consultation with the community residents be carried out.

According to the signatories, granting permits to companies like Grancera, or to natural or legal persons with extractive interests in the area, without prior consultation of the residents, would represent a direct threat to the water resources and ecosystems that sustain the lives of local communities.

The communities emphasize that any activity of this nature requires not only legal permits, but also a social license, that is, the acceptance and approval of the inhabitants who live in and depend on the affected territory.

In that context, the neighborhood associations announced that in the coming days they will hold a community vigil in front of the exit of a road that Mr. Mayker González is building irregularly in the El Cobo sector, in the El Cachón Municipal District.

According to the residents, said work is being carried out without the corresponding permits and represents a direct threat to the community’s forested and aquifer areas.

Community leaders further warned that González has a documented history of extractive operations without the proper environmental permits and with a negative impact on the territories where he has operated. According to the communities, this businessman was expelled from El Cachón, Baní, and Azúa, and recently from Barahona, precisely for carrying out material extractions without authorization and for the environmental damage that such activities caused in those localities.