In an interview on the A Diario show on Digital 15, Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo gave assurances that the first phase of the Cibao-South highway would be completed by December this year. This stage will go from San Jose de Ocoa to Sabana Larga. He said he was also hoping that the second phase, linking Rancho Arriba with Piedra Blanca in Bonao, would start in the middle of the year.
He said that the first phase would cost US$21 million and the second US$50 million, and that the total cost of the project will be over US$298 million.
Castillo went on to say that the new road would benefit the region and the country. Environmentalists fear that this will accelerate deforestation and damage protected areas. However, the minister’s stance is that there is already lots of environmental damage in the area because Haitians and Dominicans are cutting trees down to make charcoal and to clear the land for planting. He said that once the road is built, they could reach the affected areas.
He said that the south needed a chance as the soil was very good, but it needed development and Pedernales and Barahona should drive that development.
Environmentalists claim that the road is being built to facilitate the extraction of precious metals in the area and say it will be a mortal blow to water sources in the country. Former Minister of Environment Frank Moya Pons has written that there are at least six other routes that could be repaired to connect the southwest and the Cibao.
Castillo also announced the construction of the Pontezuela Ecological route, in Santiago, which consists of 11 stages. In addition he said they would be building several local smaller roads as well as maintaining existing ones. Finally he said that the Navarrete-Puerto Plata project, to widen the lanes of the road, would be completed in 90 days.
Earlier this week he also announced the construction of the Santo Domingo bypass so that traffic from the southwest, east and north not headed to Santo Domingo can circumvent the capital city.
www.elnacional.com.do/economia/2013/5/8/158896/Preparan-tramo-de-carretera-Cibao-Sur
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