One of the country’s “owners” charged with ravaging protected area

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry Prosecutor filed criminal charges against transport businessman and deputy Juan Hubieres and 20 others, accused destroy and to contaminating the protected area called Los Farallones, of the sector Alto Brisa del Este, on the Ecological Avenue.

An Environment Ministry commission headed Deputy minister for Protected areas, Angel Daneris Santana, and Legal director Marisol Castillo met with Environment prosecutor Andres Chalas to discuss the magnitude of the damages caused by the illegal occupants of the lands.

“Hubieres and the group imputed occupied the protected area destroying valuable ecological resources and more than 90% of the wooded cover, eliminating the original fauna and polluting the springs with spilled fuel, in flagrant violation of Law the 64-00 and Constitution,” Santana said.

Also charged are Andrés Urbáez, Francisco Liriano, Juan Martínez, Daniel Lorenzo, Pablo Lorenzo, Jaime García, Melvin Sosa, Leoniples De Oleo, Reinoso Alcántara, Jaime Metz, Carlos Valenzuela, Guillermo Bautista, Benito Lebrón, Guillermo Ferreras, Edy Cuevas and Carlos Colón.

The alleged damages include the dumping of garbage, cutting trees to build houses and damaging caves with archaeological artifacts to park vehicles.

Hubieres, whose often violent strikes conducted with apparent impunity has earned him the name of “owner of the country,” by the local media.