SAN CRISTÓBAL.- The Environment Ministry yesterday posted armed guards in several aggregate mines in this south-central zone, for violating the deadline to suspend the extraction of sand and gravel and to dismantle their processing equipment.
The operation began with the company Agregados Consolidados, where Soil and Waters vice minister Manuel Sierra, appeared with more than 25 Environmental Protection Service (SENPA) guards, under the orders of colonel Francisco Santos.
They immediately took control of the entrance and the areas of the company, where the heavy equipment and machinery are located, used to process the materials scooped from the Nizao river bed.

Source DR1
Fernandez will negotiate
Environment Minister Jamie David Fernandez said that he would meet with the sand and gravel extraction companies next week in order to propose a deal aimed at regulating their operations. This is a much softer stance compared to the Minister's recent uncompromising statements on the issue of sand and gravel extraction from riverbeds. Fernandez didn't give any details of the proposal, and stressed that the businesses that were shut down on Monday would remain closed as they had been given a year to regulate their procedures.
In related news, Builders' Association (ACOPROVI) president Jaime Gonzalez said the closure of the extraction companies would cause construction materials derived from sand and gravel to increase in price by up to 12%. Gonzalez says he supported the measure, but added that the extraction companies could do their jobs in an organized fashion.