For more than 500 years, there has never been flooding in the Colonial City. The reason, the first governor of the first city of the Americas, Santo Domingo, Nicolas de Ovando, at the time commanded that underground drainage so large a person could walk inside the drainage be built to ensure the waters of hurricanes would flow south to the Caribbean Sea. Ovando would be in Santo Domingo when a hurricane hit and knew first hand the importance of adequate drainage.
For the TV program “Esta Noche con Mariasela,” on Monday, 13 May 2024, Alvarez interviewed Waldys Taveras, a leading city expert, who explained the problem was created by the contractors of the renovations in the Colonial City who installed drainage piping that did not have the same capacity of the 500-year old system.
Taveras explained that the contractors did not take into consideration the garbage that accumulates and clogs normal piping systems. He says the contractors will have to make the corrections.
The flooding occurred last week, the first time in more than 500 years.
The IDB-funded renovation program of the Colonial City is implemented by international contractors under the Ministry of Tourism. Taveras said that when today Minister of Tourism David Collado was the mayor of Santo Domingo, he gave priority to studies on city drainage. He expects Collado to take action to ensure the corrections are made.
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Esta Noche con Mariasela
14 May 2024