President Luis Abinader said his administration works fast when it comes to creating jobs to benefit the Dominican Republic. He said the government is cutting red tape so that companies can get to work. The President was in Barahona for the start of the construction of renovations at the Barahona Port. Belfond Enterprise is carrying out the renovations at the Port of Barahona. It was mentioned the port would be for both cargo and cruise ships.
Belfond Enterprise is a company that has a concession to mine calcium carbonate that would be exported from the port.
The media reports the renovations of pier 4 at the port calls for an investment of US$30 million. The renovations seek to convert the Barahona Port into a multi-use port for loading and unloading of bulk products to primarily serve the export of calcium carbonate to Alabama, USA. Freight container cargo capacity and adaptations for the docking of cruise ships are part of the modernization works announced on Monday.
“The port is one of those elements that will help us to relaunch the social and economic development of Barahona,” said President Abinader when thanking the Belfond investors.
After the activity, President Abinader accompanied by the Vice President Raquel Peña and the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza toured the Barahona Bay by boat to observe the ongoing port construction work.
Abinader expects the endeavor to create thousands of jobs and stimulate the regional economy.
Belfond Enterprise has a calcium carbonate mining concession in Barahona for 75 years starting in 2015. The calcium carbonate is extracted from the Padre Miguel Fuerte Scientific Reserve in Las Filipinas.
Diario Libre carries a story in which Barahona people say the port construction could be detrimental for the health of city residents and tourism development because of the dust-like particles the handling of calcium carbonate will bring to the area.
During his visit on Monday to Barahona, President Abinader also met with the Catholic bishop of Barahona, Andres Napoleón Romero Cárdenas and committed that tourism and industrial projects the government is backing in the southwest will be sustainable ones. He committed backing to Catholic Church social programs in the region. He attended lunch with the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) regional leaders at the Catholic Technological University of Barahona, and then toured the 5th Brigade of the Army where he was received by General Commander, Mayor General Julio Ernesto Florián Pérez.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
El Dia
El Dia
Diario Libre
Belfond Enterprises
Ministry of Energy and Mines
19 October 2020