The poor distribution of income that the Dominican economy has generated in the last 30 years, poor public services and a growth in the gross domestic product (GDP), which has been unable to create opportunities for the population, have encouraged citizens to go out of the country.
This was stated yesterday by the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Miguel Ceara Hatton, who assured that the Dominican State has not managed to improve the quality of life of the people due to lack of resources, but because they have not been used properly.
Ceara Hatton, during her presentation at the international seminar: Migration, remittances and development, argued that governments have been unable to guarantee citizens access to quality public services such as water, electricity, transportation and security.
“The Dominicans have gone to the United States because there they had access to services that they did not have here, such as electricity, transportation, water (…), and that is quality of life”he explained.
He declared that the current government has the challenge of changing this situation, by generating productive and quality jobs in the private sector, and by providing public services.
The official considered that immigration is, in principle, the result of the inability of an economy and a society to guarantee a decent life to its population.
“We have to change that, that if people want to leave, let them do so, but don’t leave us because this country has been unable to give them a decent life,” said the official.
Arrival of remittances
The Minister of Economy, Planning and Development highlighted that 57% of the remittances that reach the Dominican Republic are concentrated in the 40% of the richest households, adding that the households that receive remittances have a poverty rate that is 46 % of the national average.
“In the more than 400 thousand households that receive remittances, they represent around 26 percent of the income they receive. (These currencies) represent around 3.1 percent of the average income of all households in the country, ”he highlighted.
