Guillermo Moreno, dean of law of UNIBE university, and former district attorney from 16 August 1996 to September 1997 of the first Fernandez government, shares his vision of what the DR should be in an interview in the Listin Diario on Saturday. Moreno was cancelled amidst his firm stance against corruption at the time.
In the interview he points out the two countries that co-exist in the DR ? one where people live in opulence, spending and extreme consumerism, and another where basic needs are not covered. His main concern is that the economic development model the country has chosen not only reproduces inequities but widens the gap between the rich and the poor
When asked if the country had an opportunity for development, he responded: “There will not be a chance at deelopment if the vision of our leadership is that we should look like New York or Miami. If we focus our development on the implementation of a transportation plan for the National District, or building overpasses to satisfy a vehicular park that we have artificially promoted. The axis of the development strategy for the country has to center government efforts and those of society on building opportunities so that each Dominican can have access to work, food, health, education, potable water and housing. At the end we will have less overpasses, less vehicles every year, but less consumerism, but more schools, more public transport, more hospitals and medicines for the people. We will look less like Miami or New York, but more like ourselves.”
He says that the problem with the model that has been chosen is not foreign investment, but rather that it bases itself on a “vision tending to favor foreign ways.” “It does not base itself on our historic and social reality, but rather on imitating styles and models of other societies that are very different from ours.”
He said two of the biggest obstacles are education and electricity. “In their speeches, our governors repeat that education is the key to development, but when you examine their track record there is no such priority, which leads to believe that the talk is pure demagoguery or marketing.
The other obstacle to development is improving power service. In his opinion, there cannot be development without power. He points out that if the DR is a country that does not produce petroleum, amidst the likelihood of US$100 barrel of petroleum, he says there is a need for a savings plan that looks into increased efficiency of power generators, less fraud and the development of renewable energy projects.