Santo Domingo. - A senior Environment Ministry official today asked the ecological groups which defended the Los Haitises National Park, from the construction of a cement plant near it, to join in the and efforts to continue protecting that area, although the Minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal had defended the entity’s permit granted for the project.

“Right now we need help because the park continues being endangered,” said Environment Vice minister Eleuterio Martinez, in the Teleantillas television program.

He asked the people who voiced opposition the cement plant, “to help take the last step” to consolidate Dominican society’s drive to defend that protected area and noted that his office are always open to deal with the topic of Los Haitises. “We’re willing to sit down now, not tomorrow, to see how we unify opinions to protect the park.”

Santo Domingo State University UASD Environmental Commission coordinator Luis Carvajal also took part in the interview, and asked the Environment Ministry to join in the integral development proposal which social and environmental groups are drafting for Los Haitises.

He also asked it stop authorizing “criminal” permits for the illegal lumbering of trees and other concessions.