Yesterday, Public Works Minister Freddy Perez said the government would be developing 65 infrastructure projects in different parts of the country until August 2006 with a total investment of RD$1.962 billion. They include the construction and reconstruction of roads, bridges, schools, and street repairs in neighborhoods of Santo Domingo, as reported by Listin Diario. President Leonel Fernandez has already disbursed RD$1.2 billion for several projects, including the first stretch of the highway between Punta Cana and Uvero Alto, the Higuamo River bridge, the Duarte bridge, Jacobo Majluta Avenue, the overpass at the Los Alcarrizos intersection of Duarte Highway, and payments owed to the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD). Also included are the road from Las Yayas to Padre Las Casas in Azua province, two pedestrian bridges in Santiago, the rehabilitation of a stretch of the Duarte Highway, sports facilities in Monte Plata, rural roads, among others. He pointed out that Duarte bridge in Santo Domingo required a total overhaul. This is a suspension bridge, the third of its kind in the world to have its cables replaced – which is expected to extend its function for another 50 years. It is also possible that by August, the roads and streets of Las Terrenas, Samana will have been completed.