San Cristóbal. - Despite the Sunday morning plea by the manager of an aggregates mining company who asked for another opportunity to dismantle the equipment used to scoop up sand a gravel, the Environment Ministry bulldozed part of the facilities placed along the banks of the Nizao river, as the official in charge of the operation said, "we mean business.”

Although the Environment Ministry had notified the measures to be taken, Rafael Genaro Placencia didn’t heed the warning and kept his facilities intact, said Soils and Water vice minister Manuel Serrano.

Placencia, when he saw the official arrive accompanied by Environmental Protection agents, began to dismantle the equipment, but the effort didn’t sway Serrano’s decision.

“This mining company is the one which has put up the most resistance. We’ve dismantled three mines that had not accepted the measure, but most of them have done it by their own account when they saw that we mean business.”

He said so far eight companies have left the river banks.