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Santo Domingo.– For the past century human beings have made large investments to achieve world peace, industrial development, science and technology thus considerably increasing life expectancy and the world’s population, putting a great deal of pressure on the earth’s natural resource, said Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal.
While addressing the opening of the last Regional Forum on Biofuels and other Renewable Energy, Fernandez Mirabal said achievements made by humanity have been connected to non-sustainable practices which should be turned around and replaced with increased conservation and sustainable methods.
“The serious threat that climate change poses directly affects the existence of human beings on earth and for that reason we must promote public and private initiatives to develop green communities that, over the long term, will be much more profitable than the current use of energy,” said the Minister at the opening of the forum, attended by companies from Austria, Finland, Korea and representatives from regional countries.
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Spotlight moves to Barrick contract
Environmentalists Osiris de Leon and Luis Carvajal say the contract the government has signed with Barrick Gold should be reviewed and revoked. Together with economist Luis Vargas, they called for lawyers who are motivated and committed to form a front "to defend the country from that contract," as reported in Hoy. The environmentalists say the contract violates Environmental Law 64-00.
"The contract says that Barrick Gold will approve the environmental plan of what they will carry out, which contravenes what is established in Environmental Law 64-00. The contract violates the Constitution in its present text and in the new text," said Luis Carvajal.
He made the point that the relocation of the residents who will be dislodged from areas near the former Rosario Dominicana mine will be made with a loan the company will grant the Dominican government,
Continued:
The three experts say that a campaign needs to be launched urgently to create a national awareness. This follows on the heels of the successful efforts by civil society, youth groups and academics that led to nationwide rejection of the construction of a cement plant in a buffer zone of the Los Haitises National Park. A Gallup Poll showed an 85% rejection level that led the Fernandez administration to contract a UN multi-sectorial mission to make recommendations. The UN team confirmed the environmental and civil society organizations' concerns and concluded that the cement plant was only viable and pertinent for the company, but that the risks and benefits for other sectors did not justify its construction at that site.
Source DR1