HolaDR.com: Everything About The Dominican Republic!

by rjones2818

Sun May 31, 2009 at 02:41:00 PM PDT

Original article, subtitled Emmanuel Santos looks at the rise of an important new environmental struggle in the Dominican Republic, via Socialist Worker (US):

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS around the Dominican Republic are mobilizing to stop the construction of a cement factory in the Los Haitises national park. The factory would displace 500 peasant families and degrade one of the most important ecosystems in the country and the Caribbean region.

• rjones2818′s diary :: ::

Hmmm. Another case of the ‘peasants’ taking on the establishment. In the Caribbean, no less? What is it with these people? Do they think that the Dominican Republic belongs to it’s people and not to the rich and powerful?

Los Haitises is located in the municipality of Gonzalo, one of the poorest towns in the country, and is a repository of vast water reservoirs that benefit more than 1 million people.

B..but it’ll give some people jobs! It’s economic development in a poor section of the country. What’re they complaining about?

Young Child: “Umm…sir? I like drinking clean water.”

Dominican Capitalist: “Get out of the way kid. You bother me.”

But resistance is building. On May 16, hundreds of activists set up an encampment in Los Haitises to protest a recent government concession granted to the Consorcio Minero Dominicano (Dominican Mining Consortium) to extract limestone from sedimentary rocks to manufacture cement. In the recent weeks, the local population led huge mobilizations against the mining company to defend the biodiversity that sustains the local economy and their lives.

I’ll let you read the rest of the article. You read that the environmental minister granted the concession against the advice of his experts. You’ll also read that building the concrete plant would break many environmental laws. Just what you’d expect from a pro-business oriented regime. You’ll also read about how activists are coming together to fight against the concession, which might lead to a strong Dominican environmental movement.

We should cheer on the protesters in Los Haitises and hope that they are successful. As many of us in the US know, ,many businesses and companies don’t particularly care about how they contaminate the waters near their factories. Perhaps the best solution would be for a water treatment plant to be built along with the cement factory (paid for by the company with the concession) so that the water for over 1 million Dominicans is not ruined. If the choice comes down to clean water or a cement factory, I would choose clean water!  Here’s who you can contact to support the protests:

Who to contact:

Tell the Dominican Embassy in the U.S. that you oppose the government concession to build the cement factory. Telephone 202-332-6280, fax 202-265-8057, or e-mail embassy@us.serex.gov.do.
Spanish readers can find information and updates about the encampment and the struggle to save Los Haitises at the Eco Lucha RD and Salvemos Los Haitises Web sites. Contact salvemosloshatises@gmail.com with letters of solidarity and to find out how you can help.