Abel Vale, president of Ciudadanos del Karso, called a demonstration in front of the Capitol on Tuesday, October 13, at 10:00 AM to oppose the substitute permit reform bill the Senate has scheduled for a vote that same day. He spoke in an interview on the program Normando en la Mañana on NotiUno 630, conducted by Ángel Gary Rodríguez, who was filling in for Normando Valentín.
Vale said the so-called permit reform is being done for certain sectors only and that the rest of Puerto Rico’s people have not had a chance to participate, despite what the Senate president may say. He said the document to be voted on differs from the one first put to public hearings, because it combines two measures that were previously evaluated separately.
His organization’s main concern, Vale said, is that the bill would take supremacy over 50 laws, including those protecting archaeological and water resources in the karst region, endangered species, and zoning in areas specially protected for ecological or hydrological value. He said the Department of Natural Resources, the Planning Board and even the Institute of Culture, on archaeology, would have nothing to say.
Vale confirmed his group submitted an explanatory memorial to the Senate during the hearings and contacted all senators’ offices, including the presidency, to request participation. He said those summoned were contractor and builder associations, and no environmental group was called. The group is asking for broad public hearings.