SANTO DOMINGO.- Dominican Republic’s business sector “blackmailed” some lawmakers to vote for the controversial limit on the citizens’’ access to beaches, lakes and rivers, said Wednesday a ruling PLD party legislator, whose defiance she admits may keep her from seeking reelection as a Deputy.

Isabel Bonilla said 19 of her colleagues were called either by business leaders, while for others the call came from and or PLD party leaders and companions, to either vote for the ban or absent themselves from the floor. She didn’t provide names.

She cited the case of the northern coast town Rio San Juan, where a hotel project tried to shut off the access to their beach, but the townspeople protested to the point that “the inventors had to leave, and good riddance.”

The legislator said she tried to warn the deputies of the backlash from such a ban, which has sparked calls for protests by several community, environmental and even civic groups. “I told them that this isn’t even politics, I felt deeply relieved after I voted because I’m from Rio San Juan, how can I with a clear conscience vote to limit access to the beaches, how would I be able to face my constituents after doing that.”

Bonilla said “the excuse” used to convince the legislators to approve the ban was to guarantee investments, “but how can that be possible when you take away the rights of the citizens.”

Interviewed by Huchi Lora and Patricia Solano in El Dia, Telesistema, the lawmaker from Maria Trinidad Sanchez (north) province said she agrees with Central Electoral Board president Julio Cesar Castanos’ statement that Dominicans can’t be denied access to their beaches, “even if written in the constitution.”

Bonilla, Minou Tavarez Mirabal and Pelegrin Castillo were some of the Assembly members who voted against limiting the access to the beaches, whereas cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez also slammed the measure.