Marco Vinicio Redondo, from the Citizen Action Party (PAC), asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to open a new investigation into environmental damages in the Virilla River protection area.
The legislator denounced actions such as clearing of trees, earth-moving, destruction of an important aquifer recharge area, dumping of polluting waste and diversion of the river’s natural canal, indicating that the latter has caused the modification of provincial and cantonal physical limits.
Redondo recalled that residents of Santo Domingo de Heredia have denounced the situation for years and that despite evidence against a warehouse rental company, the Prosecutor’s Office requested a dismissal of a court case in 2013.
He also said that reports from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) have identified serious shortcomings, such as the construction of levees to divert the river.
The recent changes in the Public Ministry open a window of opportunity to review cases that were treated with negligence in the past. This in particular is of the greatest interest for citizens, because it is about the destruction of an area that should be used exclusively for environmental purposes,”
said Redondo.