Santiago, DR. – President Luis Abinader inaugurated this Saturday seven drinking water and sanitation works that will impact the lives of some 135 thousand people and delivered 250 apartments to displaced people from the Cañada de Gurabo.
The president also inaugurated the innovative Comprehensive Development Center for Women (CEDI-Mujer), La Otra Banda sector; the renovation of the Santiago School of Fine Arts; a National Police detachment and a church in Hato del Yaque
Drinking water and sanitation works
The drinking water works were carried out by the Santiago Water and Sewer Corporation (Coraasan), headed by Andrés Burgos, at a cost of 878 million pesos, and include the La Zurza storage tank with a capacity for two million gallons of water, which will benefit residents in the historic center of the city, Baracoa, Pueblo Nuevo, Las Carreras, El Retiro, El Ensueño, Nibaje, El Congo and surrounding areas.
Also, in the municipality of Tamboril, Coraasan rehabilitated the drinking water storage tank with a capacity of three million gallons, which will benefit the city center of the aforementioned municipality and the localities of Los Peralta, Los Rieles street, Canca La Piedra, Valentín neighborhood, Carlos Díaz, Polanco, Haina, El Caño, Calientísimo, Don Francisco residential area, among others.
Meanwhile, in the Santiago Oeste municipal district, several projects were executed that include a pipeline from the Mella I tank to the Cienfuegos canal and a distribution network that will supply ten of the eighteen sectors that make up the Mirador Sur expansion and replaced in Bella Vista, the 30-inch pipeline that starts on the banks of the Yaque del Norte River crossing Fernando Bermúdez Street to Emilio Prud’ Homme Avenue.
In terms of sanitation, Coraasan delivered the collector for the Villas del Norte Urbanization, Stage II, a work contemplated in the agreement between the Presidency of the Republic and Santiago Commitment, and also installed a collector on Sergio Hernández Street with 30 Caballeros, the solution for which includes drainage of the water generated by residents in the center of Cienfuegos, the Alegría neighborhood, part of the San Fernando and Ensanche Mella I neighborhoods, Semillero I, II and III, the José Manuel neighborhood, among others.
Inauguration and delivery of 250 apartments in Hato del Yaque
Then, President Abinader delivered 250 new apartments in the Mi Vivienda Hato del Yaque Plan, which benefits the same number of families who now become owners, with which the 8,500 housing units delivered by the Ministry of Housing and Buildings, through the Mi Vivienda Plan, in several demarcations of the national territory, are exceeded.
My Hato del Yaque Housing has an investment of RD$2,796 million pesos, benefiting more than 4,000 people who lived in vulnerable conditions on the banks of the ravines and rivers of Arroyo Gurabo. The project creates more than 2,500 direct jobs, is divided into 3 lots and has about 150 buildings that include 1,200 apartments with three bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen and balcony.
The current senator of Santiago, Eduardo Estrella, explained that this project, originally planned for 1,200 apartments, will continue with 1,200 more. “All these actions are proof that this Government can afford it.”
He added that since President Abinader remains focused on carrying out the works that communities need, a feeder bus line is planned that will allow a connection with the cable car and the Santiago Monorail, once completed.
For his part, the Minister of Housing, Carlos Bonilla, said that this is a day of celebration and hope in Santiago de los Caballeros, where 250 apartments of the Mi Vivienda Hato del Yaque Plan are being delivered. “And this means a lot to us because we have reached a total of 1,140 owners and 95% of the work has been delivered.”
The president symbolically handed over one of the apartments to the new beneficiary Nilda Mercedes Rodríguez, who emotionally thanked the head of state for her new home.
Delivery of detachment in Hato del Yaque and Church
At the same event, a National Police detachment was also handed over in Hato del Yaque, providing public safety to the housing project and the surrounding areas. It has a cell for men and another for women, a kitchen, bedrooms, a guardhouse, offices, a weapons department and all the basic services and equipment necessary for its operation.”
Likewise, Abinader handed over the Hato del Yaque Church, at the request of the community members of that municipal district. It has an area of 170 square meters with a capacity of 70 people, has all the required facilities, as well as bathrooms and green areas.
Opening of CEDI-Mujer, La Otra Banda sector
Earlier, Abinader inaugurated the innovative CEDI-Mujer, La Otra Banda sector, an initiative that was financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and is the result of the joint effort of the Social Policy Cabinet and some 12 State institutions, aimed at transforming the lives of Dominican women in vulnerable conditions.
At the event, the coordinator of the Social Policy Cabinet, Tony Peña, indicated that this center and the one that will be inaugurated soon entailed an investment of US$20 million for its construction and equipment, and is a testimony to the commitment assumed by President Abinader to improve the quality of life of Dominican women, through the social protection institution that he heads.
Also speaking were the director of the CEDI-Mujer Project of the Social Policies Cabinet of the Presidency, Ana Lendor, and the Minister of Women, Mayra Jiménez, who highlighted President Abinader’s support for Dominican women so that they can redefine their future and the important advances achieved in this Government in terms of law, equity and gender equality.
Renovated School of Fine Arts of Santiago is handed over
In the morning, President Abinader led the opening ceremony of the Santiago School of Fine Arts (EBAS), after a remodeling process that began in June 2022 in order to adapt the space to promote artistic education in the Cibao province.
The renovation works carried out by the Ministry of Culture had an investment of more than RD$30 million pesos and included the rehabilitation of classrooms, dance and theater rooms, and other areas of the institution. It has an enrollment of 508 students, distributed among the disciplines of dance, theater, visual arts and music, and for the new school term 100 new students will enter.
The Minister of Culture, Milagros German, and the General Director of Fine Arts, Marinela Sallént, highlighted that the delivery of this fully restored fine arts school in its physical plant, ratifies the government’s commitment to promoting cultural democratization throughout the national territory.
The activities were attended by the Minister of Public Health, Víctor Atallah; the Governor of Santiago, Rosa Santos; the Mayor, Ulises Rodríguez; the Senator-elect, Daniel Rivera; the Cultural Advisor of the Executive Branch, Amaury Sánchez; and the General Manager of Edenorte, Andrés Cueto.
