Italian ambassador Enrico Guicciardi has announced that the government of Italy is making a EUR3 million grant to the Dominican government to build infrastructure works on Saona Island. These include a shopping plaza, an archaeological museum, a park, a coliseum for cultural activities, a baseball playing field, a hurricane shelter, an amphitheater and a community center. The funds will also be used to remodel some of the homes on the island, build a food and arts and crafts plaza, and hold workshops to improve the inhabitants’ skills.
Saona Island is 22 kilometers long from east to west, 5-6 kilometers wide from north to south and around 110 square kilometers in size. It is the largest of the Dominican Republic’s offshore islands, almost the size of Aruba. It takes a speedboat about four hours to ride around the island. Saona is part of the National Park of the East and is the most visited of national park areas nationwide. Its 300 inhabitants live mainly in the towns of Catuano and Mano Juan. A 12km road links both towns.