Statements by Eduardo Selman, Rafael Nunez and Roberto Rodriguez indicate that the government is stepping back its support to the proposal to create an artificial island in the Caribbean Sea in front of the Santo Domingo waterfront. Selman, the government’s liaison between the President and the promoters of the project, told reporters last night that the government had gone as far as permitted by the Constitution and that the future of the project was now in the hands of Congress on the one hand and with the private sector on the other. Selman said that “the government has no obligation whatsoever, beyond the support it gave the project initially.” Presidential press secretary Rafael Nunez and Presidential spokesperson Roberto Rodriguez also touched on the issue. Nunez said that if there was neither interest nor harmony in the business sector, then the “government is not going to push further on this.”
In statements to Diario Libre reporters, the spokespersons reminded the press that the idea of the artificial island in front of the Santo Domingo shoreline did not come from the current administration, but was begun during the Mejia administration. They explained that the fact that the renowned Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill and a leading Spanish construction company were involved in the project had motivated the current administration to respect the project.