Mining Loma Miranda would unleash social upheaval, prominent NGO warns

Santo Domingo.- Justice and Transparency Foundation (FJT) president Trajano Potentini on Thursday warned Congress that the eventual mining at Loma Miranda would unleash "a social upheaval of unpredictable consequences" in the country.

He said it would also cause a "serious institutional crisis” which would lead to the violation of several court rulings against Glencore Falcondo’s planned nickel mine at Loma Miranda, including Constitutional Court ruling 167-13.

"We condemn and reject lawmakers’ negotiations and delay tactics to sidestep their responsibility of approving Loma Miranda as a National Park, resorting to legislative loopholes for the bill to expire in a clear mockery of the country," the FJT said in a press statement.

Potentini warned the population to be on the alert and vigilant to Congress’ actions, "eroding the Government’s political will to ignore the Constitution and institutions, and exploit Loma Miranda to the detriment of the country’s flora and fauna."

He called Loma Miranda a unique environmental lung, “perhaps the country’s most important within the Central Mountain Range.”

"The immense contribution of its forests, the source of major rivers and streams like Guarey, Terrero, Ponton, Jaguey, Berraco and Jima, which are effluents that provide water to several aqueducts, irrigation, livestock and the generate hydroelectric energy,” he said.