DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

As part of his three-day visit to Santiago province, President Luis Abinader approved the project to construct the Amber Highway in a public-private partnership. The road will reduce the connection time between Puerto Plata and the rest of the country, generating employment and benefits to various economic sectors.

President Abinader assuaged concerns regarding private participation in road construction. He pointed out that the alliance with the private sector would not include “shadow tolls,” the overt mechanism that has made so costly the concession the Leonel Fernández government signed for the construction of the Samana toll road. Due to the Samana contract with the private builders, tolls to Samana are at around RD$2,000 compared to around RD$300 for traveling a similar distance to Punta Cana from Santo Domingo. The high cost of the tolls has...