Santo Domingo.– President Luis Abinader led this Friday the act to complete the comprehensive remodeling of Paris Street and its surroundings, which will impact the well-being of all the people who interact daily in that area, with an investment of more than RD$ 440 million.
The president said that the initiative is an unprecedented effort to promote and improve this historic area of the capital.
“The times of chaos, slums, insecurity and overcrowding must be left behind. New cities demand new solutions. And that is what we are doing in Santo Domingo and throughout the country”, proclaimed the head of state.
During the act, accompanied by the mayor Carolina Mejía, the president stressed that the development plan implemented by the Government throughout the country seeks initiatives that improve the quality of life of its neighbors, commits to revitalize the areas, generate jobs, and invest in regenerating its landscape.
This project has the purpose of completely transforming the aforementioned spaces, as well as establishing a definitive order for Paris Street with Juan Pablo Duarte Avenue and its surroundings; one of the areas with the greatest commercial impact and concurrence of people.
“I have always maintained that this city has the best conditions to be a leader in many things; Innovation, culture, mobility, employment. We have it all, gentlemen. This city is a jewel and we must treat it as such”, considered Abinader.
He stated that it was necessary to find a solution now to one of the most pressing problems of disorder and urban deterioration that affect the city, and that area in particular, to transform this situation and turn it into a model of management and new opportunities.
“In addition, it seeks to mark a before and after in the National District and generate a positive and decisive impact on the quality of life of the residents of the area and of thousands of Dominican men and women who pass through here every day,” added the president. Abinader.
He announced that the Presidency and the Mayor’s Office will pay tribute to Dominican heroines, emblematic women admired by all, by capturing their faces in murals that highlight their legacy, turning the city into living spaces for education and civic values.
“Create a geography of opportunities, with plans, investments and institutional support. That is the government’s roadmap, and it is the direction that is being managed for Paris Street and its surroundings,” the president insisted.
most inclusive city
“Paris and its surroundings”, as has already been explained, said the president, will focus on urban interventions in various streets and intersections in the Villa Francisca sector.
He pointed out that they will provide this space with better operability, we will promote the proper use of public space and we will improve citizen security.
“This will be a comprehensive action that will allow us to guarantee order and proper functioning in an area of special dynamism due to commercial activities that converge with traffic,”
Likewise, the intervention of infrastructure and use of public space with the construction and renovation of sidewalks is foreseen.
“We will make a more inclusive city by implementing ramps for people with disabilities, we will improve lighting and we will guarantee good cleaning and maintenance,” said the president.
Mayoress: The greatest transformation
On her side, the mayor of the National District said that the transformation and recovery of public spaces in Santo Domingo has been the most significant collective effort achieved jointly with the authorities and community representatives.
He valued the institutional and economic support of President Abinader to achieve this purpose.
“We met municipal authorities, the central government, street vendors, neighborhood associations, merchants, councilors, businessmen, also those who wrote to us on social networks who wanted this change and look at what we have achieved together,” he cited among the reasons that have made the work possible.
Mayor Mejía assured that it is the largest work of recovery, adaptation and transformation of public spaces in the history of our city and possibly of the Dominican Republic in the last fifty years.
“Together we are promoting a great work that is transforming lives and that represents the type of city and country that we are building together with the government of President Luis Abinader,” he stressed.
He argued that President Abinader is a standard-bearer and defender of the municipality and that he has demonstrated it with deeds, not only by supporting the capital city’s initiatives as an engine of development, but also with his firm support for mayors’ offices throughout the country.
He added that he has done it without political distinction, and gave as an example of this, the recent delivery of more than 4 billion pesos to the municipality for the sidewalks and curbs program.
Benefit to nearby communities
On behalf of the Duarte Merchants Association, Braulio José Fernández spoke, praising the president for the work that will benefit all the communities near Duarte.
Martina Pimentel, president of the Duarte Peddlers Association, on behalf of her colleagues, thanked President Abinader for having his eyes fixed on the informal worker.
Likewise, Faustina Díaz, a peddler, thanked the president for listening to her requests. “We have a government that listens to the cry of the people, but also responds,” she said.
President Abinader was accompanied by former President Hipólito Mejía; the ministers, Administrative of the presidency, José Ignacio Paliza; of Interior and Police, Jesús-Chu-Vásquez; of Housing and Buildings, Carlos Bonilla; of State, Without Portfolio, Geanilda Vásquez and the Deputy Minister of Social and Community Management, Juan Garrigó Mejía.
Also, the general director of Traffic Safety and Land Transportation (DIGESETT), Brigadier General Ramón Antonio Guzmán; the director of the CAASD, Felipe Suberví; the director of Promipyme, Porfirio Peralta; the director of INFOTEP, Rafael Santos Badia; the director of the National Health Service, Mario Lama.
Similarly, the executive director of the Government Transport Cabinet, Hugo Beras: the president of the Banreservas Volunteers, Noelia García de Pereyra; aldermen of the Chapter House of the National District; the businessmen Juan Vicini and Ligia Bonetti, as well as representatives of the peddlers of the crowded commercial area.
