Environment chief revokes permit but lumbering spreads

Santo Domingo.- Environment minister Bautista Rojas Gomezon Thursday said the permit to chop 56,000trees in Luis Quinn National Park was revoked and said it will not allowlogging in the area.

He said the variety whose cutting was authorized by the Azuaprovince |(south) Environment Regional Office is not used to make furniture butis used to make of boxes to transport goods.

The official’s statement is in a letter to the El Nacionalnewspaper editor-in-chief Bolivar Diaz, in response to an article published Tuesdaywhich complains of devastation in the protected area, allegedly authorized byRojas.

Rojas has been the target of sharp critique during the lastfew months, from environmentalists and other sectors who complain of lack ofenforcement of the Environment Law, as the “chop and burn” practice seems tospread across the country.