A report in Diario Libre today, Tuesday 14 May suggests that the Medina administration may have given in to a request by the Universidad del Caribe (Unicaribe) to use public space for parking on the Malecon. In contrast with other universities that have invested in parking buildings, Unicaribe early on sets its eyes on the parkland opposite, on the Malecon seafront side. The city government is investing millions in the construction of the Maritime Walk public space.
During the Fernandez administration, the private university received approval for the Presidency public works department (OISOE) to build a bridge over the Malecon, leading to the park area across from the university. However, this was challenged by the Santo Domingo City Government, which urged the university to invest in a parking building on their side of the street. But now Diario Libre says that lobbying by the university seems to have succeeded because construction by the OISOE has started again on the bridge over the Malecon.
Claudio Acosta, in his Que Se Dice column in Hoy newspaper, says that if the announcement is correct this would be a major violation of respect for institutional authority. He says that the board of councilors of the City Government of Santo Domingo had decided against the bridge and ordered the private university to invest in their parking space, same as other private universities have. He writes today, Tuesday 14 May that this would be a violation of municipal autonomy if the OISOE, under engineer Miguel Pimentel Kareh, decides to go ahead with the construction.