Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo has announced the construction of new public works in the southwestern region: the Southern Bypass, two housing projects and the Dos Bocas dam in Vallejuelo. The 2.3km bypass will include a 1.3 km boulevard that will be named after Jose Maria Cabral, for his efforts to restore independence from Spain in the 19th century. The boulevard will be built between the San Juan River and the bypass and will have gardens and recreational plazas.
Castillo also announced the expansion and improvements to the San Juan de la Maguana-Juan de Herrera-Sabaneta roads, some 20 km.
The new housing projects will be built in Nueva Mesopotamia (510 apartments) and Nuevo Tenguerengue (136 houses).
Castillo also announced the reconstruction of the Padre Las Casas-Bohechio road and the restoration of the Jose Joaquin Puello irrigation canal.
He added that streets would be paved in several southwestern municipalities.
Emetrio Lluberes of the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (Egehid) said that work would begin on the construction of the Dos Bocas dam in Vallejuelo with a capacity to irrigate 400,000 tareas (25,152 hectares), benefiting more than 12,000 farmers in several southwestern communities. The construction had originally been announced in 2013 by President Medina.