Ex-governor candidate and activist Eliezer Molina She indicated, today, Wednesday, through her social networks, that the owners of trailers or mobile homes located on land in the Los Indios sector, in the Las Marias neighborhood in Salinasis being removed from the area after reports of the environmental impact of the National Estuarine Research Reserve in Jobus Bay.
“Residents are sending me a video of people towing trailers now and getting ready for the weekend to tow them en masse.”“Fear,” said Molina, who attributed the verb to “fear.”
He said most of the owners are not responsible for the environmental damage the area has suffered in recent years and have simply rented the place. “Anyone who’s afraid to see that the place where they’ve rented, maybe it’s not what they understand with licenses, can get it and they understand they have to leave,” he said.
The environmental activist shared a short video on his Twitter profile with the message: “Run and Run in Salinas!! They are unloading trailers in the invaded area of the mangrove forests of Las Marias.”
In the ecological reserve, a residential area has been developed camp, apparently without permission from the relevant government agencies. For these tasks, the mangroves were cut down and the offshore wilderness area was populated.
Reportedly, since 2015, the situation has been reported to DNER, without knowing what, if any, was investigated, and why the necessary steps were not taken to stop construction while identifying potential environmental violations.
Molina has expressed outrage not only at what is happening but also at the alleged inaction – as publicly revealed – by state authorities to preserve the area and remedy any damage. “If it were not for the complaints from the communities, the agency chief would not have fulfilled his ministerial duty. Therefore, it is understood that this is the general policy of the governor,” he said, referring to the secretary Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (drana), Raphael Machargo and management Peter Pierluisi.
Bahia Gobos National Estuarine Research Reserve is the second largest estuarine area in Puerto Rico. It stretches between the municipalities of Guayama and Salinas and its territory was acquired by DNER in 1981. Soon after, the area was designated a national reserve by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The agency is co-manager of the land.
Pierluisi confirmed last week that his government would take the necessary measures, including legal measures, to expel the “invaders” who occupied these lands. The procedure comes days after a representative Citizen victory movement (CVM), Mariana Nogalesnoted that since 2018, NOAA has “warned” the DNER that illegal construction within the preserve is inconsistent with the conservation and research goals “of the protected area.”