PEDERNALES.-The Cabo Rojo-Pedernales mega-tourism project has whetted the appetite of squatters, and everything points to the existence of mafias that have sharpened their knives to take advantage of the land boom here and the interest of investors willing to move their capital to this ambitious plan, which is shaping up to be one of the largest tourism developments in the Caribbean.
We share with the readers of El Inmobiliario, a digital newspaper, a full publication from the Listín Diario of this date, on the subject:
Although it is not yet known for certain whether officials or employees are listed on a payroll that includes alleged land owners and squatters, it has been announced that payment for the sale of land with tourist potential will be made effective within 10 to 15 days.
In this town, after the publicized and promoted tourism development, land invasions have been very persistent, and among its promoters there are already signs of people associated for these purposes, ready to take advantage of the payments that a Dominican investor would be ready to make.
Those who would benefit are citizens who own land adjacent to beach areas, and others who already have titles but whose land has been transferred to the Dominican State by the competent court.
The issue has already generated controversy among citizens who participate in local radio programs.
The listed transactions:
This payroll records the purchase of land, which includes plots ranging in size from 2,089 square meters to 29,92 square meters, with payments ranging from 44,528 pesos to 508,629 pesos.
In total, the payments listed for land purchases amount to RD$158,527,051.
An active investor
According to lawyer Rubén Manuel Matos Suárez, several months ago an investor paid more than 130 million pesos to a large number of land invaders, occupants of parcel 40, of Cadastral District No. 3, of the Enriquillo jurisdiction.
Matos said that this investor "intends to continue making payments per square meter of land for more than 160 million pesos, according to a list of other considerable numbers of people who are invaders and settlers of land who still need to receive payments per square meter," in the same plot 40, in the Playa de Bocanyé area, where part of the Tourism Development project announced by President Luis Abinader is intended to be built.
For his part, Víctor Gómez, a member of a landowners' association, warned that there is "a lot of fear" among legitimate landowners and squatters that the government will occupy their land if they do not accept the payments being made on the plots delimited by the State, such as 40, 41 and 215-A of the Enriquillo Cadastral District, where, presumably, tourism development projects will be built.
Local citizens say they do not understand why the government allows payments to be made for land near beach areas to people who "don't even know where one meter of that land is located.".
Regarding this matter, lawyer Rubén Manuel Matos Suárez, who prepares the payroll for beneficiaries, clarified that no government officials are listed among the lands designated for tourism in Pedernales. He stated that the tourism development project is "progressing successfully" and that the economic benefits are going to people from the province. Recently, alleged owners of strips of land adjacent to the beaches of Pedernales received thousands of pesos for thousands of square meters in parcel 40, where the original owners had erected fences to prevent occupation.
There is concern in the area.
Local citizens have asked President Luis Abinader to order an investigation into how a payroll is being paid that includes people who do not live in the province, "nor do they care about the progress of this community, which for several years has lived off little agriculture, fishing and other businesses."
The government is building the Barahona-Enriquillo and Enriquillo-Pedernales highways, but there are complaints about the slow pace of the work. The same is true for the reconstruction of the Port of Cabo Rojo, where only the machinery for those specific tasks is available. Work on the perimeter fence between this region and Haiti is in a similar state of paralysis.
Attractions.
The province of Pedernales comprises the municipalities of Pedernales and Oviedo, and includes two municipal districts: Juancho and José Francisco Peña Gómez.
This region boasts unique natural attractions, such as Bahía de las Águilas (Eagles Bay), Laguna de Oviedo (Oviedo Lagoon), Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, Los Cocos Wind Farm, Romeo Francés Ecological Wells, and the El Mulito River.
In Pedernales, the people are devout Catholics, and their patron saint festivities are held in January, in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia. The celebration of these festivities, or "Patronales" as they are known by the locals, takes place on January 21st.
