President of the Hotel & Restaurant Association Johnny Bernal said that the hotel sector considers the issuance of sovereign bonds or infrastructure notes to cover the cost of the Coral Highway inappropriate. There has been recent talk of issuing government notes in the amount of US$255 million, to pay for the construction of the highway that would link La Romana and Punta Cana, and reduce the travel time between the two areas. In a letter to Senator C?sar D?az Filpo (PRD-Azua), Bernal says he shares the opinion of the National Council of Business (CONEP) in that another type of funding should be implemented. Bernal sent the letter to D?az Filpo because in his comments in the Senate, D?az Filpo while rejecting the use of the sovereign bonds to finance the highway had stated that the construction of the highway would benefit what he described as a business elite. Bernal contradicted this sentiment, saying that the region of La Altagracia is one of the most productive in the country and therefore is worthy, from the social and economic point of view, of such an investment by the State. Bernal said that D?az Filpo?s statement once again brings to the forefront the theme of responsibility of the State to finance necessary infrastructure for tourism development.
The Coral Highway would represent the final leg of the Santo Domingo-East highway that is made up of the Las Americas highway (30 kilometers and in the final stages of expansion); the Autovia del Este (35 kilometers and completed); the Circunvalaci?n de San Pedro de Macor?s (5 kilometers and missing the conclusion of a bridge) and the Autopista del Coral (95 kilometers) from La Romana.