Southwest officials ‘smuggle materials’ but Environment mums

Barahona, Dominican Republic.- Regional Environment officials in Barahona aretrafficking sand and precious wood, spurred by the Environment Ministry’s indifference.

The complaint by environmentalists from thetowns Polo, Las Salinas, Duvergé, and the the Yaque del Sur river lower basin comesjust days before president Danilo Medina is slated to visit an agro-forestryproject in the southwest on Sunday.

Community leaders and environmentalists JuanEncarnación, Claudio Cuevas and Pedro Féliz say the extraction of materials andillegal lumbering have devastated hundredsof hectares of the highlands.

They accuse of Environment technicians inBarahona of smuggling materials on weekends from the various sites including Cristóbaltownship, which are later sold to companies in Barahona.

They said the officials use dozens of dumptrucks and tractor trailers to smuggle the materials at night, and call onDomínguez and Medina to order an investigation into their complaint to put a haltto the situation which they affirm threatens the region’s natural resources.