Govt. takes trash off exotic Dominican island, after complaints

Santo Domingo.- The Environment Ministry on Tuesday said it removed around 650 sacks and bags of solid waste from several makeshift trash dumps near the town of Mano Juan, Saona island, part of Cotubanama National Park.

The heaping garbage had drawn wide rebuke from environmentalists and the media, since the 110 square-kilometer island is the country’s top money-making excursion.

It said the garbage posed a threat to the villagers’ health and to the image of the protected area, noting that the government will build a waste collection site this year to avert unauthorized dumps.

“The vice ministry for Protected Areas, in coordination with the Environment Provincial Directorate of La Romana and the Mano Juan Neighborhood Board have already chose the place and work on designing a model collection center according to the new concepts for this type of platform,” Environment said in a statement.

It said crews from La Romana conducted the cleanup, helped by sailors of the Dominican Navy.

Environment adds that four boats and dozens of men and women were used for the immediate removal of the solid waste, which was then hauled to the dock at San Pedro de Macoris to be taken to a corresponding site.