RD$360 Million to be Invested in Fulfilling Environmental Requirements of RD-CAFTA

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Santo Domingo Institute of Technology (INTEC in Spanish) launched the Environmental Protection Program which will facilitate the Dominican Republic in its efforts to fulfill its commitments set out in chapter 17 of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA).

The project will cover a period of five years and has been allotted RD$360 million pesos to strengthen the institutional capacities of the public and private sectors.

The project will cover a period of five years and has been allotted RD$360 million pesos to strengthen the institutional capacities of the public and private sectors. It will be carried out by the TNC and INTEC, according to Richard Goughnour, Director of the USAID in the Dominican Republic.

The main organization to benefit will initially be SEMARENA which will receive technical assistance, training and equipment. For this year, the project contemplates donating to the Environment Ministry a series of equipment valued at RD$14 million. The equipment will include technology to take samples and analyze environmental contamination in-situ, and security equipment to watch over protected areas and monitor marine and coastal biodiversity.

The Environmental Protection Program will work closely with the Dominican private sector to promote adequate environmental management through non-regulatory instruments such as Production + Clean-up (P+C) and the Environmental Management System. It will also support town halls in their efforts to establish and apply environmental orders in the towns and cities. This will help to articulate structures like the Municipal Environmental Management Units (UGAM), mandated by law to deal with the main problems facing citizens in these localities.

The Environmental Protection Program was developed as part of the Environmental Cooperation Agreement (ACA in Spanish), confirmed by signatories from DR-CAFTA. Through the ACA, the US government will provide resources to member countries to implement those actions stipulated in the environmental chapter of the Free Trade Agreement.

One of the commitments assumed by the country upon ratifying the treaty was to fulfill, and to assure that its lawmakers fulfill, its own environmental legislation, assuring adequate protection of the country’s environment and biodiversity.

The event, held in Hotel Santo Domingo, was attended by América Bastidas, Deputy Minister for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (SEEP&D); Marianne Kleiberg, Regional Director of TNC for the Central Caribbean and Miguel Escala, Rector of INTEC, among other representatives of government institutions, as well as cooperation agencies and organizers from the environment sector.

The project will work with the private sector, mainly through the National Network of Business People for Environmental Protection (RENAEPA), and with SEMARENA in an effort to modernize the current combination of monitoring and controlling policies with incentives to fulfill commitments.