I've been a resident for a little over a year and decided to run a pharmacy in the Bavaro/Punta Cana region. This was after studying the legal requirements and being assured that under the existing law no new pharmacy could be sanctioned within 500 metres of an existing operation. This i also had confirmed by a senior official at Salud Publica in Santo Domingo.
You can therefore imagine my surprise when a new pharmacy opened 330 metres away with all the correct permits and in a container as well rather than a plaza. When i had a representative call the local official in Higuey she indicated that the new business was more than 500 metres away. I decided to check the GPS data and sure enough it is 334 metres linear. So i arranged for the official to come down and remeasure all at my expense of course. This she did but refused to take a linear measurement, which is the legal requirement, preferring to drive the route instead. Even taken the road her measurement was barely 400 metres, at which point she pronounced that the shortfall was only 100 metres. I therefore escalated this problem to her superior as well as the main office in Santo Domingo, and furnished them with the evidence, including photographs and GPS data, not only of this issue, but also the fact that pharmaceutical medicines are being sold in all the local supermarkets, something else that is illegal without a licence. Having submitted that file, they are supposed to contact the existing business and arrange for a new measurement to take place. To date i have had no reply from any of them.
Anyone thinking of investing in this type of business in the Bavaro/ Punta Cana region probably needs to take account of the facts on the ground. Maybe its best to call yourself a supermarket, and sell anything you like which could save you a great deal of money in licensing costs. The law it seems is simply there to ensnare foreigners, whereas locals can probably send money to the official in Higuey to avoid any inconvenient legal complications around their business plans. Meantime they destroy existing business, and put people out of work by their short sighted addiction to corrupt practices.
You can therefore imagine my surprise when a new pharmacy opened 330 metres away with all the correct permits and in a container as well rather than a plaza. When i had a representative call the local official in Higuey she indicated that the new business was more than 500 metres away. I decided to check the GPS data and sure enough it is 334 metres linear. So i arranged for the official to come down and remeasure all at my expense of course. This she did but refused to take a linear measurement, which is the legal requirement, preferring to drive the route instead. Even taken the road her measurement was barely 400 metres, at which point she pronounced that the shortfall was only 100 metres. I therefore escalated this problem to her superior as well as the main office in Santo Domingo, and furnished them with the evidence, including photographs and GPS data, not only of this issue, but also the fact that pharmaceutical medicines are being sold in all the local supermarkets, something else that is illegal without a licence. Having submitted that file, they are supposed to contact the existing business and arrange for a new measurement to take place. To date i have had no reply from any of them.
Anyone thinking of investing in this type of business in the Bavaro/ Punta Cana region probably needs to take account of the facts on the ground. Maybe its best to call yourself a supermarket, and sell anything you like which could save you a great deal of money in licensing costs. The law it seems is simply there to ensnare foreigners, whereas locals can probably send money to the official in Higuey to avoid any inconvenient legal complications around their business plans. Meantime they destroy existing business, and put people out of work by their short sighted addiction to corrupt practices.