Gold mine town’s mayor convicted for failing to produce documents

Cotuí, Dominican Republic.- A Sanchez Ramirez province judge ordered Fantino township mayor Lorenza Rojas to release all documents relating to her tenure, and will pay 500 pesos for each day she fails to comply.

Civil and Commercial chamber judge Jacqueline Ramos’ ruling against Rojas stems from a suit filed by Juan Javier Cruz, for repeatedly refusing to comply with the Free Access to Public Information Law.

The 17 page ruling also rejects the mayor’s challenge to the court’s jurisdiction, and reveals that despite having told media that she had provided the documents, they were never released.

The request for information includes documents on the city council’s income and expenditure, programs and projects of with budgets and their deadlines since 2010.

Cotui is home to one of the world’s biggest gold mines, Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo.