The construction sector of the North Region It is the one that has the largest number of wage earners in this activity at the national level and is the one that pays the highest hourly wages. In addition, it is the demarcation in which more hours are worked per week, which implies that the income of this sector in the Cibao is the largest of the four macro-regions.
This conclusion was reached in the report “Economic Overview of the North Region”, published this week by the central bank. Said document also highlights that, with regard to the remuneration of labor, the construction sector on the North Region It was one of those with the highest income per hour in September 2021: 127.5 pesos.
In the Cibao construction sector It also registered a significant number of hours worked per week: 39.2 in the same period, the report indicates.
“The importance of North Region in the national economic framework includes its participation in the construction sector, both in the amount of real estate and in financing”, says the document. “In the Cibao there is also a large proportion of the workforce dedicated to the sector, and it is one of the areas where financing, both for construction and for the purchase of homes, recovered more quickly after the paralysis of the productive system due to the pandemic.
- Geographic composition of the North Region or Cibao
| Santiago | Duarte | The Vega | Valverde |
| Puerto Plata | Mirabal Sisters | Monsignor Nouel | Santiago Rodriguez |
Although the report does not delve into the characterization of the workforce, other studies have highlighted the high presence of Haitians in this type of work.
One published in 2020 highlighted that the vast majority of the employed population of foreign origin is male and of Haitian origin, and that the male population represents 99.1% of those employed in construction.
In spatial terms, the Cibao Norte region concentrated 20.9% of those employed in the construction sector of foreign origin, specifies the study “Estimation of the demand for foreign workers in the construction and agricultural sectors in the Dominican Republic”, published by the National Institute of Migration and the International Organizations for Migration and International Labor.
Homes add to the sector
Housing construction contributes to the boom in construction sector on the North Region.
The report of central bank highlights that, during 2015-2021, housing projects allowed the construction of 5,749 residences in the national territory. Of this total, 579 out of every 1,000 were located in the North Regionand highlights 2017, in which it reports that the area concentrated 74.0% of the national total.
“This increase is explained by the construction of the Ciudad Juan Bosch project, located in the Santiago province, which was carried out through the trust for low-cost housing; as well as for the development of 143 homes in the Puerto Plata province. Both projects meant a total of 2,119 new dwellings for Cibaeña families,” says the report, prepared by the Subdirectorate of Regional Studies and Macroeconomic Surveys of the Department of Monetary Programming and Economic Studies of the central bank Dominican.
When evaluating the number of houses built by the Government by provinces during 2015-2021, disparities are evident when adjusted for every 10,000 households in poverty, the report highlights. “On the one hand, in the provinces of Santiago and Santiago Rodríguez, 56.9 and 44.8 houses were built for every thousand poor households, respectively, while, on the other hand, in the rest of the localities this amount was less than twenty housing units.”
