Environmentalists declare war on developers  

Credit:  By Reinaldo Millán, Puerto Rico Daily Sun, www.prdailysun.com 14 July 2010 ~~

Despite laws which make it a crime to demonstrate against such projects, the Ventanas Dry Forest Coalition will not let up in its attempt to stop the development of a coastal wind park here.
Coalition spokesman Francisco Sáez Cintrón attacked the members of the Legislature who approved the new Permit Law, known as the Tito Kayak Law, which makes it a crime to obstruct and shut down works in progress.
“This is an attempt against freedom of expression and we will continue educating and mobilizing the people so they can defend their rights,” he said.
It is imperative to create awareness about laws that infringe on some people’s democratic rights to favor investors with permits that violate environmental laws and threaten natural resources.
The groups are evaluating how much the laws violate civil rights, and do not dismiss the possibility of going to federal court to impugn what they call anti- environment legislation.
Coalition members consider as a “lack of respect” the resolution issued by the Planning Board that declared that there is no basis for the reconsideration motions presented by the environmentalists on the Windmar Wind Park, in Punta Ventana, Cerro Toro and Punta Berraco, next to the Dry Forest.
“This is one more indication of the lack of responsibility and a disastrous act that threatens the conservation of this natural resource,” said Sáez Cintrón.
He deplored the fact that the previous Under Secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Javier Rúa Jovet, had advised the person who proposed the park Víctor González Barahona, during a hearing in which the project was discussed.
The group also spoke out against the Karst Law, because they believe that the area under development should be protected.