Santo Domingo, DN- The spokesman for the Fuerza del Pueblo Bloc of Deputies in the Lower House, Rafael Castillo, said that families feel unsafe even in their own homes, in the municipality of Santo Domingo Este (SDE), Greater Santo Domingo and other provinces, due to the growing wave of crime throughout the country.
In his statements, Castillo denied that SDE has become the safest city in the province and the fourth in the entire country, as claimed by its mayor, Dio Astacio, supposedly as a result of his work during the first hundred days of his administration at the head of the mayor’s office.
“He (Dio Astacio) attributes it to his first hundred days in office. So it would be good to ask him the following questions. Mr. Mayor: What has been the municipal security plan presented to the citizens of SDE? How many security cameras did you install in our municipality during that period?” said the congressman of the second constituency of the province of Santo Domingo.
Rafael Castillo pointed out that the municipal official has not taken any measures to supposedly reduce crime rates considerably in SDE, as he prides himself on saying.
“In our municipality, I am informed that not a single security camera has been installed, and no municipal police have been assigned to parks, plazas and public markets in the first hundred days. In addition, they are using the police to pressure people to pay taxes in public spaces. So, what are you bragging about, Mr. Mayor?” the congressman pointed out.
The FP spokesperson in the Chamber of Deputies recalled that the Dominican population, due to the failure of the criminal policy implemented by the authorities, does not feel safe even in their homes.
“We do not understand what the mayor is bragging about, when those of us who live in Santo Domingo Este feel unsafe even inside our own homes,” said Rafael Castillo.
He also questioned statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Police, which claim that the homicide rate has supposedly dropped from 11.8 percent to 8.3 percent.
