Apparently neither soil nor environmental impact studies were carried out prior to the government investing millions in a major housing project in the environs of Camú River in La Vega, investigative journalists from acento.com.do report. The area chosen has proven to not be appropriate for the government housing development, as several experts had warned. Flooding has already affected the development, even though the country has not been affected by a major storm since its construction. To enable the viability of the project, flooding control structures have been built at an additional cost to taxpayers. The Camú River has a decades-long history of flooding.
As reported, there is no record at the Ministry of Environment of the soil or environmental impact studies prior to the construction of the Proyecto El Riito, a housing development said to cost RD$3 billion in taxpayer money in a slum area around the Camú River.
The development project was coordinated by Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta. The official position of the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency department is that the apartments were affected because the flood control structures were not all in place. As of April 2018, only 30 % of the flood control structures have been completed.
The project calls for the diversion of a gully that is said to cause the flooding. The project is projected to benefit around 60,000 persons.
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Acento
3 May 2018
