Johnny Rotestán / El Caribe
The Mayor of Santo Domingo West Francisco Peña said that the city government would not allow the installation of the Malecón vendor bazaar next Sunday, 29 January 2017.
The bazaar has created a slum area on the Malecón where it intersects with the Luperón Avenue and Km. 12 of the Sánchez Highway. The decision of the Ayuntamiento de Santo Domingo Oeste (ASDO) will affect more than 150 vendors that had taken over the area impeding normal traffic.
Mayor Peña announced a recreational area would instead be built under the overpass of Sánchez Highway at Km. 12 where the city open-air market had been operating for years.
Alfredo Labata Tamares, who is in charge of security for the ASDO, told El Caribe reporters that the city government has not accepted payments from the vendors nor any agreement for these to continue to offer their wares at the city road intersection.
Nevertheless, José Manuel Caro, spokesman for the vendors, told El Caribe reporters that he had met with the mayor on Tuesday, 17 January, and the mayor had only required that the vendors find ways to not affect the flow of traffic through the western section of Santo Domingo. “We have 13 years there. Mayor Roberto Salcedo brought us there. We did not invade the area. All we want is to reach an agreement where none of the parts is affected,” he told El Caribe reporters.
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El Caribe
23 January 2017
