SANTO DOMINGO.-The Dominican Business Union (UED) warns that construction materials such as cement, concrete, blocks, asphalt, sand and gravel could experience price increases of up to 40%, due to the fact that temporary permits for the extraction of non-metallic materials have increased by 400%, going from 60,000 to 240,000 pesos per month.
The president of the UED, Dorys Pol, states that this cost is unsustainable for small and medium-sized enterprises because it is a permit that must be renewed every month, forcing the sector to pass the prices on to the end consumer.
"This measure will negatively impact not only construction companies but all road and civil construction projects. Prices will increase considerably for consumers, the government, and private individuals, as we cannot absorb these high costs," he emphasized.
They explained at a press conference that the increase occurred after the issuance of Decree 309-23, which instructs the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to charge an environmental fee for extraction, dredging and removal of components of the earth's crust of 16 pesos per cubic meter.
This price is four times the rate set by Decree 145-03—issued during the administration of Hipólito Mejía—of 4 pesos per meter of public transportation. The current provision considers that the ordinances of this previous decree were repealed by another: Decree 190-17.
Pol described the increase as "arbitrary," arguing that the Ministry of the Environment grants environmental permits with a minimum set of 15,000 cubic meters, a measure that affects some 450 companies in the non-metallic mining sector, which only move between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic meters of materials.
He said that many of these companies "are closed" because they require a temporary permit to operate and lack the 240,000 pesos that the service costs with the new rate.
Decree
"An environmental fee equivalent to sixteen Dominican pesos with 00/100 (RD$16.00) is established for each cubic meter (m3) extracted, dredged, removed and/or exploited component of the earth's crust in favor of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources," says article one of the aforementioned decree.
Article two instructs the Ministry of Environment to immediately implement the collection of the environmental fee established by the decree, to adopt the corresponding procedures to immediately begin the faithful execution of its provisions, and to notify all public and private institutions linked to non-metallic mining activities that involve the extraction, exploitation, removal, dredging, and processing of components of the earth's crust.
