First of all, before getting to the point of this thread, I want to give you a little background. Since several years ago I work in regional media advertising, practically covering the whole east coast (from San Pedro to Bavaro). I have been working in this area with Aster cable company, several independent cable companies, and an independent regional TV channel. My work makes me talk to local small and medium business owners who buy local advertising.
The never-ending, NEVER ENDING flow of their concern is this: Things are slow, things are flat out leveled, things are BAD. You hear this form the mouths of small and medium business owners who have furniture stores, electronic stores, clothing stores, an average small and medium sized business that does, maybe a million of pesos a month in invoicing, and more. Not even a micro small businesses that maybe invoice a hundred or two hundred thousand pesos a month. The people I talk to are SMB who employ 10-20-30 people. And in the last two years, I have not heard, from ONE SINGLE month, saying that "things are great, things are getting better by the day". The opposite, things are either flat out leveled "estamos sobreviviendo con la ayuda de Dios (we are surviving with the help of God)" or they are straight out ugly.
"No hay empleo, no hay dinero en la calle, la gente no compra (there are no jobs, there is no money in the streets, people do not buy)" are the complaints from small and medium business owners I hear all over. I have seen people showing me their notepads, where they write their sales figures (yes we are not that computerized here) where they show me how their restaurant, for example, is barely surviving, the owner not pocketing a single peso in a month in benefits but still giving job to 3 or 4 persons.
Local La Sirena is basically empty. In la Romana, JUMBO makes some money off Casa de Campo people. But go to Plaza Lama, the parking lot is full at 12 when people go eat lunch there, and then remains almost empty for the rest of day. But walk into a small business, and you may be the only one who has stepped in that day. The same history shows over and over, from San Pedro to Bavaro.
"These are the worst years we have liven through" say many of the small and medium business owners. We want the change, "soy peledeista pero que se vaya ya el que esta (I am a PLD supporter but I want the one [president] who is there, to go". A lot of SMB owners expressed great expectations from Danilo, and hope for the better. "Porque si esto no cambia, se acabo todo (because if this does not change, than game's over" say many small and medium business owners throughout the East region.
We are talking about the East region, where money flows in from tourism. Where there is huge company Central Romana. Where it is still more or less possible to find a job, even though a low paying job but job anyway. I cannot even imagine what small business owners in areas such as the South, NorthWest, or Bonao for example would be saying, where there is much less money flowing in from tourism and other industrial activities. Province of La Altagracia (Bavaro, Higuey) is the third richest province in the DR after Santo Domingo (Metro area) and Santiago (Metro area). But you hear the small business owners crying out in despair, trying to get a breath of what little breathing air is left.
I ask those (you know who you are) if things are so great, that they are building and opening several new malls with floor space equaling to EIGHT OLYMPIC STADIUMS El negocio de los mall - DiarioLibre.com WHY, I ask WHY, the small and medium business owners express the same concerns, same despair over and over, city to city, that things are NOT AT ALL GOOD. Santo Domingo is about 3 million people, right. But there are 7 million people more living in this country.
Things are good for some, for few. Those few reside in Santo Domingo, in some high rises in Naco, Piantini, Cacicazgos, and mansions in Arroyo Hondo. How many are they? A tiny fraction of the 10 million Dominicans. But leave the Mall Triangle in Santo Domingo, go east, go south, go north, and you will find that things are not at all the way you insist to portray. These are not my words. These are the words of countless small and medium business owners whom I talk to on every day basis and who struggle every day to pay their utility bills, rent, to pay many many employees who depend on them for their family subsistence.
I will end with two quotes. The first one I have heard in the barber shop, from one of the prominent business people in Higuey involved in the furniture business. This was about a year ago. "Yo soy peledeista, pero ese hombre deberia estar preso". The second one, a client of mine who owns a car service center (tires, oil, etc.) said "Aunque soy del partido blanco, para el bien de mi querido pais, espero que Danilo haga buen trabajo, el parece estar mas serio...y espero que el Leon no se le m-e-t-a * mucho por el medio...por que si no, se nos llevara el mismo que nos trajo..."
* why did the system put starts in a word "se m-e-t-a" what is wrong with that?
The never-ending, NEVER ENDING flow of their concern is this: Things are slow, things are flat out leveled, things are BAD. You hear this form the mouths of small and medium business owners who have furniture stores, electronic stores, clothing stores, an average small and medium sized business that does, maybe a million of pesos a month in invoicing, and more. Not even a micro small businesses that maybe invoice a hundred or two hundred thousand pesos a month. The people I talk to are SMB who employ 10-20-30 people. And in the last two years, I have not heard, from ONE SINGLE month, saying that "things are great, things are getting better by the day". The opposite, things are either flat out leveled "estamos sobreviviendo con la ayuda de Dios (we are surviving with the help of God)" or they are straight out ugly.
"No hay empleo, no hay dinero en la calle, la gente no compra (there are no jobs, there is no money in the streets, people do not buy)" are the complaints from small and medium business owners I hear all over. I have seen people showing me their notepads, where they write their sales figures (yes we are not that computerized here) where they show me how their restaurant, for example, is barely surviving, the owner not pocketing a single peso in a month in benefits but still giving job to 3 or 4 persons.
Local La Sirena is basically empty. In la Romana, JUMBO makes some money off Casa de Campo people. But go to Plaza Lama, the parking lot is full at 12 when people go eat lunch there, and then remains almost empty for the rest of day. But walk into a small business, and you may be the only one who has stepped in that day. The same history shows over and over, from San Pedro to Bavaro.
"These are the worst years we have liven through" say many of the small and medium business owners. We want the change, "soy peledeista pero que se vaya ya el que esta (I am a PLD supporter but I want the one [president] who is there, to go". A lot of SMB owners expressed great expectations from Danilo, and hope for the better. "Porque si esto no cambia, se acabo todo (because if this does not change, than game's over" say many small and medium business owners throughout the East region.
We are talking about the East region, where money flows in from tourism. Where there is huge company Central Romana. Where it is still more or less possible to find a job, even though a low paying job but job anyway. I cannot even imagine what small business owners in areas such as the South, NorthWest, or Bonao for example would be saying, where there is much less money flowing in from tourism and other industrial activities. Province of La Altagracia (Bavaro, Higuey) is the third richest province in the DR after Santo Domingo (Metro area) and Santiago (Metro area). But you hear the small business owners crying out in despair, trying to get a breath of what little breathing air is left.
I ask those (you know who you are) if things are so great, that they are building and opening several new malls with floor space equaling to EIGHT OLYMPIC STADIUMS El negocio de los mall - DiarioLibre.com WHY, I ask WHY, the small and medium business owners express the same concerns, same despair over and over, city to city, that things are NOT AT ALL GOOD. Santo Domingo is about 3 million people, right. But there are 7 million people more living in this country.
Things are good for some, for few. Those few reside in Santo Domingo, in some high rises in Naco, Piantini, Cacicazgos, and mansions in Arroyo Hondo. How many are they? A tiny fraction of the 10 million Dominicans. But leave the Mall Triangle in Santo Domingo, go east, go south, go north, and you will find that things are not at all the way you insist to portray. These are not my words. These are the words of countless small and medium business owners whom I talk to on every day basis and who struggle every day to pay their utility bills, rent, to pay many many employees who depend on them for their family subsistence.
I will end with two quotes. The first one I have heard in the barber shop, from one of the prominent business people in Higuey involved in the furniture business. This was about a year ago. "Yo soy peledeista, pero ese hombre deberia estar preso". The second one, a client of mine who owns a car service center (tires, oil, etc.) said "Aunque soy del partido blanco, para el bien de mi querido pais, espero que Danilo haga buen trabajo, el parece estar mas serio...y espero que el Leon no se le m-e-t-a * mucho por el medio...por que si no, se nos llevara el mismo que nos trajo..."
* why did the system put starts in a word "se m-e-t-a" what is wrong with that?