The Government analyzes in a work table the establishment of a national nautical corridor, which until now does not exist in the country.
This corridor will allow those who have a boat or a yacht to travel a kind of route, but for this it is necessary to have an attractive offer, according to the executive director of the Dominican Port Authority (Apordom), Jean Luis Rodríguez.
“It will allow that if you have, for example, a boat, you go to La Romana, to the Saona, Catalina… the Náutico de Santo Domingo and Luperón,” he explained, in the special interview with elCaribe and CDN.
He explained that for this type of activity, which is important in tourist terms, docks can be built. “We are identifying them now… You can go around the island. You can do it without entering Haiti. If you create the conditions, that can work. There are people who do that kind of tourism.
Maybe a person is not going to last a week going around in a boat, but there are people who go from island to island doing this type of tourism. If you have an offer here where they can make you four or five different stops, then I see it very well, ”she pointed out.
He assured that – based on experiences he knows and conversations he has had with executives of cruise lines around the world – it is possible to have cruise ports, although the concept is different.
When Jean Luis was asked (by way of warning) if having so many boats, “cruises” or yachts could lend himself to illegality (trafficking of prohibited substances and contraband), his answer was: “Well, other institutions come in here, which also They would have to do their homework.”
He reported that in Luperón (Puerto Plata) a work group has already been created that integrates the Dominican Republic Navy, the Specialized Port Security Corps, the Ministry of the Environment and Apordom itself.
“What I think is that we should work hand in hand,” he said. Meanwhile, the president of the Board of Directors of the Dominican Port Authority, Alejandro Campos, highlighted -in another part of the dialogue- that together with Rodríguez he has been doing a great job, tending to leave behind the deterioration that the institution was experiencing. He said there is no way to achieve possible changes in the short term, if there is no concentration on the work and a division of tasks to be carried out. “And now we’re at it,” he said.
“I preside over the Presidential Commission for Modernization and Port Security, an organization I was unaware of. It is a small body but it was created at a certain point, 15 years ago. It hadn’t done anything and now what we’re trying to do is redirect the small budget it has, which is nothing to write home about. We started with 55 million pesos a year, and the President in supporting the Port Authority and the port sector is assigning us an additional 20 million this year”, he said.
He stressed that everything is being invested in technological transformation and security. “Previously, that money went to payroll and payment of premises, but since we entered, we handed over the premises that were paid for and we moved to Portuaria,” he pointed out.
