El Siglo reported that the Ministry of Public Works has confirmed that in the remodeling of the main thoroughfares of Santo Domingo space is being left for the construction of a metro by year 2005. Architect Cristóbal Valdez said that the government should consider more economical solutions than the planned underground metro. Valdez worked on the design of the master plans for the city said and explained that an underground metro would be extremely costly as the city is built on top of massive coral rock formations. Valdez also criticized the administration for resorting to solutions that make life easier for those that own cars (25% of the total), and not for those that need to walk or use public transportation to get around. The director of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET), Hamlet Hermann said that the construction of the metro, announced for year 2005, would require an investment of US$30 million per kilometer.
