The announcement comes after growing opposition amongst locals belonging to the
neighbourhood of Piantini and surrounding areas who had vowed to oppose the
building of the casino in a residential sector with thousands of inhabitants.
Locals argued that the casino would cause a negative impact on the local
community and that the project violates local planning provisions as well. The
news comes despite the fact that a court ruled in its favour last month.
The news was made public by the Mayor of
the National District, David Collado, after explaining that the executives lost
interest in the project. Collado said that the City Council had maintained a
strong position throughout the hearings. However, he pointed out that building
permission was granted by the previous administration and local neighbourhood
committees had an important role to play.
On February 15 the President of the Supreme
Administrative Court of the Dominican Republic rejected the request for
protective measures, filed against provisional permits for the construction of
the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel.
But in a strongly worded statement
lawyer Miriam Paulino, who has been representing the local community in their
opposition to the new casino, said: "We are going to study the sentence but we
are announcing that from now on that we will resort to the corresponding
appeals route and we will carry out all the actions and legal means possible
under the law in order to achieve the stoppage of this work and to achieve the
cancellation of the permits which up until now have been granted in an
irregular manner. We
have lost one of a thousand battles. We will not give up.”
In January
2016 Hard Rock International, revealed plans for its second hotel and casino in
the Dominican Republic, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Santo Domingo, located in
the heart of the capital city. A full service hotel was scheduled to open at
the end of this year, and would have featured 400 hotel rooms and would be home
to a 23,000 sq. ft. casino, screening room, and a nightclub opening up to the
main pool. There were 400 slot machines and 40 table games planned for the
space alongside a private gaming room.
Source: GMB / G3 Newswire
