Ministry of Public Works’ plans to build nine 22-apartment luxury apartments on lots belonging to the Plaza de la Salud medical complex got a blow over the weekend when the influential Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez joined former President Joaquín Balaguer and made public his strong opposition to the construction of the towers on the Plaza de la Salud grounds. López Rodríguez presides the board that supervises the Plaza de la Salud, that he described as the most modern health complex in Latin America. "I consider it has been an absolutely inadmissible form of proceeding to order the construction in the medical complex’s grounds," he said. He commented that the construction violates elementary norms of education and respect for institutions, on his Sunday telecast on his TV program "Fe y Acontecer" on the Catholic Church’s television station, Televida, Canal 41. "If the President of the Republic ordered so then what they should have done is inform the board, if he has not ruled so then it means he (minister of Public Works) is appropriating a right that nobody has given him," said the Cardinal. Former President Joaquin Balaguer told the press that he is sure that the towers will not be built. The construction of the towers violates the plans for the center that were drawn up consulting with the University of Harvard professionals.
