Four months after the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (Mived) imposed the closinglast September, to eleven establishments of Chinese origin in Greater Santo Domingo and two in Santiago for the detection of structural failures that risked the lives of employees and people, almost all remain closed.
So far only the stores Sweet Home and Central Point –both in Santo Domingo– have received the Mived authorization to resume its operations – which began on November 28 and December 13 of last year, respectively – after updating its construction licenses and providing the institution with documentation proving that the construction defects and failures in the buildings had been corrected.
Thus, the stores Suplax, Shopping Center New WorldLa Rocca, Plaza Hope, Ming Sheng, Me Home (Nine Mall), STD Mall, Brisas Mall and Yo Me continue closed in Greater Santo Domingo, despite the fact that some of these have already intervened in their spaces and have delivered what is required to the Mived to regularize their situation, says Rosa ngpresident of the Flor para Todos Foundation and member of the board of directors of the Chinese Colony Center in the Dominican Republic.
In Santiagothe store Decoplax –one of the first closed in this district– remains closed, but awaiting its reopening after applying the corrections requested by the ministry, according to ng.
Last December, the Mived also closed Himalaya Superstore, Astro Square and Tencent Commercial, that remain that way until now, as confirmed Free Diary on a tour of the establishments in that province and in Greater Santo Domingo.
It is about fifteen establishments intervened since September 2025 by structural failuresof which thirteen remain closed.
“An injustice”
He Mived arranged the closing after finding “critical failures“in these establishments, such as beams and columns without anchoring to the foundation, porous welds and bolts without adequate torque, rusty elements, poor joints and incorrect drilling, non-certified materials such as pre-assembled metal structures of Chinese origin that did not meet quality and overload standards at higher levels.
ng described as “unfair“that the institution imposed the closing of these businesses, after pointing out that there are stores owned by other owners who have been allowed to remodel at the same time they were operating.
“They should have allowed him remain open so that they could continue moving economically, since it seems that what they wanted was, precisely, to make the closures to close them. What business lasts four months?” he asked himself.
He recognized that some owners of Chinese premises built thinking that only the permits from the town councils supported their constructionsunaware that the authorization of the Ministry of Housing.
In other cases, these establishments had “a long time” operating without this being ever required of them, while there are businesses whose establishments are rented, so the Chinese tenants would not be fully involved in their construction, in addition to being affected by not having a way to comply with the commitments assumed against their tenants.
ng indicated that this is the case of Sweet Home –which occupies a space in the Núñez de Cáceres avenue where the La Gran Vía and Ferretería Americana stores were previously located – without these businesses previously registering problems with the buildings.
He indicated that it also happens with Suplax –located on Nicolás de Ovando Avenue–, a company that hired Yellowa firm of engineers and architects that was assisted by technicians and American experts to verify the site corrections and verify that the infrastructure was free from the risk of collapsing and, even so, remains closed.
Embassy help
The chinese embassy in the Dominican Republic assured that the merchants involved “are collaborating “actively” with the Ministry of Housing in the rectification processes, “recording positive progress” in this regard.
The organization reiterated that the chinese embassy has constantly demanded from chinese merchants respect Dominican laws and regulations and develop their businesses in strict accordance with the law and the regulatory compliance.
In this vein, he stressed that irregular commercial activities are about “isolated cases“that do not represent” an entire group.
“The chinese merchants are open to supervisionactively cooperate with the authorities and support the fair competition“, she indicated when consulted.
He reiterated that they are willing to contribute jointly to the Mived to promote “a prompt solution to this question“.
Free Diary requested Mived to report on how many of the closed businesses have tried to regularize their situation and in what time a response would be given, but the institution avoided giving details on the issue, claiming that they are in a process of institutional transition, after Víctor (Ito) Bisonó was ordered to relieve Carlos Bonilla as head of the entity.
