MOPT dumps debris from the Circunvalación at a landfill in Santo Domingo without environmental or health permits

By allowing this action, the Fourth Chamber sentenced the Municipality of Santo Domingo de Heredia and the State Health Jurisdiction to pay costs, damages and losses by announcing the appeal for protection filed by the neighbors of the area.

The woman reported The dump receives up to 80 truckloads of material per day.Not only does it cause congestion on the roads in the area, but it also creates pollution that affects rivers and communities through waste dumping. Violation of the right to a healthy environment.

In a ruling issued on July 30, the constitutional judges confirmed that the municipality and the health management district had failed to fulfill their duty to protect the environment by allowing MOPT to use these lands, which are state property, without ensuring that health and the environment would be protected. A license will be required from 2021.

The site is called the Tajo Montano dump and is located in Santa Rosa de Santo Domingo de Heredia. The site, which borders the Virilla River basin, was closed by the Ministry of Health in 2014.

In order to reopen the site, the Cadastral Department of the City of Santo Domingo granted a land use certificate for landfill and waste dumping activities, despite not presenting legal and regulatory requirements such as environmental feasibility.

The dumpsite also does not have a health operating permit, although the Ministry of Health has been informed of its use.

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The Fourth Chamber confirmed that in March 2021, during an inspection before the reopening of the dumpsite, the Ministry of Transport informed officials from the Ministry of Health that it was considering using the site as a dumpsite. In response, the workers said that since this was a new activity, the corresponding permits were required. At that time, the health authorities also sent a letter to the Public Works Department, reminding it that it must apply for a health permit.

In June 2024, after receiving complaints from community members, the district requested the Ministry of Health to produce a health business license.

On July 3, the MOPT argued that Tajo Montano falls within the environmental feasibility of the Northern Ring Road project, which is considered in the national interest, because the use of the dumpsite is dedicated exclusively to that road project. Therefore, he argued, throwing garbage at the site cannot be considered a commercial activity that requires a license to operate.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Health issued an official letter MS-DRRSCN-DARSSD-1087-2024 on July 12, recalling that neither the permit related to the Northern Ring Road nor the declaration of national interest for the project exempted MOPT from its obligation to have an operating license for the land.

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Furthermore, after receiving the notice of appeal for protection, the Santo Domingo City Council, which three years ago considered the Circunvalación Norte permit valid, filed a complaint on July 20, demanding the immediate closure of the rubble pile.

In this regard, the Fourth Chamber concluded that “the fact that the Northern Ring Road Project is environmentally viable and exclusive does not mean that the Ministry can neglect to comply with the above requirements to carry out the claimed activities, especially since they had previously received warnings in this regard”.

“Except that at the time of this appeal, the local entity formally filed a complaint to close the institution for lack of legal requirements and for allowing the activity to proceed for several months. Based on this information, the court estimated that violations had occurred.”

For the magistrate, while the health department had also taken action recently, it did so very late as it had known about the issue since 2021 but did not follow up on the case until 2024.

“The fact that there was no complaint or request for permission to carry out the activity does not exempt the plaintiff from the actions it failed to take to guarantee its right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, especially since in a letter dated March 26, 2021, MOPT was informed that it must apply to the Ministry of Health and the City of Santo Domingo for an operating permit, but it never took any action,” the ruling said.

nation He asked the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Health for a response. He also called Santo Domingo Mayor Jorge Fonseca, but received no response.