The President and Vice President of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association, Ramon Prieto and Arturo Villanueva, have both complained that government practices are hurting the tourism industry. Ramon Prieto told Hoy newspaper that the President has not fulfilled promises he made while campaigning and after becoming President. Prieto commented that recently the President met with hoteliers in Juan Dolio and promised that the contractor in charge of finishing the area’s aqueduct could pick up his check for RD$11 million on Monday. Weeks later the contractor is still waiting for the check. Prieto says there needs to be more interaction between government departments so this does not happen. The aqueduct, when finished, would serve the Juan Dolio tourism area. Arturo Villanueva pointed out that the government of Jamaica set aside US$12 million to reduce violence in Kingston. The Dominican government’s response to reports of kidnappings in Santo Domingo was to launch Operación Centella, the searching of all vehicles by the military looking for guns. Villanueva described the operation as absurd.
