The creation of the new Matias Ramon Mella Province has been approved in the first hearing of the bill by the Senate. El Caribe reports that 19 senators voted in favor of Tonty Rutinel’s proposal to convert the current municipality of Santo Domingo east into a separate province. The bill must now be voted on in a second hearing. This is the second time the bill is presented in Congress. The first time it expired in the Chamber of Deputies.