Economy & Planning Minister Pavel Isa Contreras, Environment Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton and the Acting Minister of the Presidency Joel Santos got together with local leaders on the provinces of Montecristi, Dajabon and Valverde last week to discuss what’s in store for the northwest. At the event, Joel Santos announced that the President’s plan to develop the Port of Manzanillo would begin in 2023. Santos said that master plan for the development of Manzanillo is being drafted and the government should receive the plan by December 2022. The next step would be to present it to Congress in February 2023.
Current estimates are for the government and private entities to invest well over RD$100 billion in this mega-project that will mark a before and after for the northwest region.
Action on the remodeling, expansion and development of the area would most likely begin in the first half of 2023. International consulting and engineering firms are working with the Agency for International Development (USAID). The plans take in to account the tiny town of Pepillo Salcedo, the municipality where the current port facilities are located.
Santos said the Ministry of Tourism is working on improving the Pepillo Salcedo public park and the Los Coquitos public beach. The population will also benefit from increase in power generation.
Manzanillo is the major port for banana exports with fully 60% of the nation’s banana exports flowing through the port to the tune of 225 freight containers per week.
The project envisions the revamping of the Manzanillo Port, the closest to the United States, and the installation of a natural gas terminal. At present, the country’s natural gas facilities are on the south coast.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
El Caribe
15 August 2022