DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

The Autopistas del Nordeste concession for the Las Americas Highway to Samaná road and the coastal road to Las Terrenas is now revoked. President Luis Abinader made the announcement in a televised address on the evening of 9 December 2021. The concession was due to expire in 2038.

The contracts for these roads signed during past governments (Leonel Fernandez and Hipólito Mejía) made the road the most-costly ever built in the Dominican Republic. A road estimated to have cost US$125 million to build ended up being billed to the Dominican government for 25 times more due to an infamous shadow toll clause.

The government had budgeted RD$4.65 billion to pay for the shadow toll in the 2022 National Budget. The contract stipulated a minimum number of vehicles would use the road per month. When this was not met, the shadow toll clause required additional compensation...