Santo Domingo.- For ex Soil and Water Deputy minister Victor Garcia the evaluation of the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to extract ferronickel at Loma Miranda (entral) is the first major challenge for the new Environment minister Bautista Rojas and other senior officials, because it’s a metal mining project whose very nature as a site with extensive biodiversity and many variables makes it like no other the agency normally evaluates.

He said the Ministry’s duty is to environmentally approve or disapprove the Xstrata Falcondo project within reasonable time, and its main challenge is to form a multidisciplinary assessment team at the highest level.

The expert, quoted by hoy.com.do, said the project needs a broad evaluation which takes into account the technical knowledge of the foreign consultants who prepared the EIS.

The former official added that there’s a need to verify the processes submited in the study, since much of its information is from the use of computer technologies, "you have to be entirely sure of what’s being evaluated."