The Autopistas del Nordeste concession for the Las Americas Highway to Samaná road and the coastal road to Las Terrenas is now revoked. President Luis Abinader made the announcement in a televised address on the evening of 9 December 2021. The concession was due to expire in 2038.
The contracts for these roads signed during past governments (Leonel Fernandez and Hipólito Mejía) made the road the most-costly ever built in the Dominican Republic. A road estimated to have cost US$125 million to build ended up being billed to the Dominican government for 25 times more due to an infamous shadow toll clause.
The government had budgeted RD$4.65 billion to pay for the shadow toll in the 2022 National Budget. The contract stipulated a minimum number of vehicles would use the road per month. When this was not met, the shadow toll clause required additional compensation from the state.
During the address to the nation on Thursday, 9 December 2021, President Luis Abinader said an amicable agreement had been reached for the termination of the concession contract for the Samana toll road.
The toll road cuts the driving distance by approximately two hours. It is also regarded as one of the most dangerous roads in the country and requires drivers keep to speeds of 80 km and 50 km in the stretch that crosses the Haitises National Park with its many pronounced curves for safety reasons.
President Luis Abinader says the agreement translates into savings for the government of approximately US$1.5 billion.
“The agreement we announce today establishes the state will pay US$410 million to terminate the concession contract. This amount is approximately what we would have had to pay for shadow tolls in the next four years and four months, not counting what the tolls would generate once they have been transferred to the state trust RD Vial,” said the President in making the announcement.
He said that effective 1 January 2022, tolls would drop 20% on the Las Américas tolls road to Samaná road. “There will be savings for the coffers of the state and for the pockets of Dominicans,” the President said.
The contract dates back to a first signing in 1999 (Leonel Fernandez government) when a Colombian company received the road concession. Amendments of the contract would be signed by former ministers of Public Works Miguel Vargas Maldonado (Hipolito Mejia government), Freddy Perez and Victor Diaz Rua (Leonel Fernandez government) in subsequent years.
The Presidency hired lawyer Enmanuel Esquea to revise the contract. He went public to explain the contract was mired by major irregularities. The Presidency did not announce legal consequences for the major irregularities. Nor did the government publish the agreement for transparency sake.
Altagracia Salazar, in her reporting on the deal writes:
“In his report on the operation, Dr. Esquea recommends that the case be passed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that responsibilities can be established for decisions that cost the Dominican state so much. Perhaps the only crime was for these to be bad negotiators when clumsiness is not a crime, but it happens that the three officials consider themselves successful in their private activities and it would be good to observe how their brains work in the private sector and turn off in the public sector,” she writes. She also observes that the corrupt former government officers are likely to get a break because the legislature has established a 20-year limit to prosecute corruption crimes in the Penal Code that has passed in the Senate and is expected to pass in the Chamber of Deputies this year. Salazar observes thus the terms to prosecute these cases would soon expire.
Read more:
Presidency
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
Altagracia Salazar Sin Maquillaje
El Dia
DR1 News
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DR1 News
10 December 2021