President Luis Abinader presented the National Water Commitment during an event at the Presidential Palace on 14 June 2021. The short-term objective is to draft the National Water Pact 2021-2036 to ensure sustainable water management. In the long term, it contemplates the construction of several dams nationwide. Overall, it considers investments of US$8.5 billion and an annual investment of approximately US$567 million over the next 15 years.
The plan guarantees a universal, safe and sustained supply of water for irrigation, electricity and human use. The plan encompasses the maintenance, construction and operation of dams nationwide.
The President called on all national sectors to join this crusade for the preservation of water. He said: “The difficulties we face show us that we must change our traditional way of relating to water. We can no longer see it as an inexhaustible resource when it is a scarce and costly resource that must be managed responsibly for our benefit and that of future generations.”
He said that working together to reach a consensus on a National Water Pact is an unavoidable commitment of his administration and the entire Dominican society.
Others on the presiding table of the event were Vice President Raquel Peña; Economy Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton; the president of the Social and Economic Council, Rafael Toribio; Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza; Environment Minister Orlando Jorge Mera and the executive director of the Water Cabinet, Gilberto Reynoso. Also, the general directors of the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewer Corporation (CAASD), Felipe (Fellito) Suberví; of the National Housing Institute (INVI), Carlos Bonilla and the general administrator of the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (EgeHID), Rafael Salazar.
During the event, Economy Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton highlighted the importance of water planning in a permanent and systematic way. He said that water is a vital natural and economic resource and also a citizen’s right.
A bill for better management of national waters has stagnated for years in the Dominican Congress.
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Presidency
Senate
14 June 2021