President Luis Abinader yesterday issued Decree 2-24 repealing Decree 270-20, which approved the Bávaro International Airport in Tres Piezas, El Salado sector, in the municipality of Salvaleón de Higüey, in La Altagracia.
This decree, which consists of two articles, 17 recitals, and 24 citations, puts an end to the project, whose “injuriousness to the national interest” was ratified by a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ).
In its second article, the presidential order orders it to be sent to the Airport Commission, the Airport Department, the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), the Specialized Airport and Civil Aviation Security Corps (Cesac), the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Public Works and Communications for their knowledge and execution.
Decree 270-20, a note, was issued just 23 days after the transfer of command in favor of businessman Abraham Hazoury and the Abrisa Group. Still, an SCJ ruling ruled that the Executive Branch incurred an excess in issuing that order.
Among the recitals of decree, 2-24 is precisely the decision of the Supreme Court that unanimously rejected an appeal regarding the airport, which sought to invalidate the declaration that qualified it as harmful to the national interest, issued by IDAC and which dismissed the project as it was conceived and approved.
According to the document, in October 2021, a ruling by the Superior Administrative Court (TSA) qualified as “harmful to the general interest” the permit granted by the IDAC on August 11, 2020, for the construction of that airport. It revoked the authorization for the work to begin.
The IDAC said that the approval “violated principles, norms and procedures established in the legal system, which justifies the nullity.”
In addition, in September 2022, the Environment Department annulled the environmental license for the project, correcting irregularities allegedly committed by the previous government.