La Cuaba residents protest planned waste facility at National Palace

Residents of La Cuaba, Pedro Brand, protested outside the National Palace on Wednesday, demanding the government halt a planned waste facility they say is a landfill. The demonstration, organized by the "No Vertedero" movement, drew dozens of community members who fear the project will threaten local water sources and ecotourism Source: elcaribedr, listindiario.

The government, through Environment Minister Armando Paíno Henríquez, insists the project is not a landfill but a "valorization plant" for recycling waste Source: hoydo. However, residents reject that characterization, pointing to what they say are existing springs and streams at the proposed site in El Aguacate. Fabio Correa, president of the La Cuaba Development Board, noted that four arroyos—Brunela, La Pana, Fermín, and La Granja—lie near the plot, with two more bordering it Source: listindiario. "We have many children, many schools, many rivers. Everything in La Cuaba is tourist-based," said resident Sonrayi Peñalo Source: listindiario.

A commission led by Correa met with Alexis Jiménez, Vice Minister of Social Development, and submitted a document to President Luis Abinader demanding the project be cancelled Source: listindiario. Correa stated that if the demand is not met, protests will move to the National Congress Source: listindiario. The community has maintained a permanent camp at El Aguacate for over two months to block construction Source: eldiado.

Questions remain about the project's future. The Ministry of Environment has not publicly responded to the latest protests Source: elcaribedr.