VILLA ALTAGRACIA.- The Foundation for the Development of Villa Altagracia (FUDEVA) reported on Tuesday that the construction of the complementary aqueduct in this municipality “has an exaggerated and unjustified delay, among many other irregularities,” which require investigation by the purchasing and contracting department and by the government ethics commission.
The entity said that the work began in January 2021, in response to a community complaint, and it promised to be delivered two years later. Construction is halfway complete, although INAPA claims to have invested 65% of the planned budget, the amount of which is imprecise.
The works being carried out aim to increase the water supply to a large part of the inhabitants of the urban area of the municipality of Villa Altagracia, estimated at around 35 thousand people, not 100 thousand as INAPA mistakenly estimates. It includes the work of intake from the Haina River, pumping station for raw water, pumping lines, rehabilitation and expansion of the treatment plant.
However, he said, the delay in the implementation of each of these components is long, and there is no way to justify it. Meanwhile, the population suffers from the shortage and poor quality of the water, having to satisfy a large part of its needs by buying it from truckers who sell it at the right price and without any sanitary control.
He said that there are three private companies in charge of building the aqueduct, at least one of which was awarded a grade-by-grade contract dating back to 2003, something that he believes is “inexplicable and unacceptable, given that this company is the one that has made the least progress and has been paid the most.”
It refers to the Pablo Yarull and Associates Construction Company, beneficiary of contract 2003-037 (21 years ago) but it was reactivated by the current administration. This company is in charge of the intake works: Caucasian Dam with Sand Remover, adduction line, pumping sump and gabion wall.
He said that INAPA attributes the delay to bad weather, but it must be remembered that it has been three years since the work began. “It is true that it has rained but we have also had long periods of drought,” he said.
He added that the pumping line and the sump equipment were transferred to the company ICCA, SRL, which has also not complied. He pointed out that this company made the mistake of installing underground pipes without the valves required for pumping and they had to be dug up and now alleges that the parts do not arrive from abroad. “Who will pay the price for that error?”
Funding for this component of the aqueduct was provided by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
She said that the construction company SERIMAR was awarded the contract to expand the drinking water treatment plant. She also blames bad weather for the delay, according to what INAPA told FUDEVA, who had to resort to the right to information to access this data.
On January 26, 2023 Wellington Arnauddirector of INAPA, declared to the media that the investment in the work would be close to 800 million pesos, “but in a written communication, requested by the Foundation for the Development of Villa Altagracia, it is stated that the cost will be $314,721,346.38. Who should we believe?”
FUDEVA said that the residents of Villa Altagracia are tired of waiting for quality, continuous piped water in their homes, a right that has been denied to them by all governments in the last 4 decades.
“This injustice is unparalleled, given that 35% of the water consumed by Greater Santo Domingo is produced in this municipality. This town trusted INAPA, but this institution has let us down, and like in previous administrations, it promised us and did not deliver,” he said.
“We reserve the right to resort to the courts if we find evidence that the construction of this aqueduct has been used to squander taxpayers’ resources,” warned FUDEVA.
