The Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Lockward announced that the government has authorized a group of Cibaeño businessmen to build a fuel terminal in Luperón, Puerto Plata. This calls for an investment of US$25 million. The Grupo de Energía Global will install the terminal in Las Maras, Luperón municipality, west of Puerto Plata city. Work will begin in 90 days. The terminal will provide the north and northcentral areas of the country with independence from the south, where fuel terminals are located at present. "For years we have suffered the risk of a hurricane destroying the bridge that connects the Cibao with Santo Domingo, and then the North and the Cibao would be left without fuel, as occurred in 1979, when Hurricane David," said José Armando Bermúdez (Poppy), one of the main investors. Other Santiago-based investors are José Clase, Fernando Capellán, Angel Rosao Viñas, Felix García, Manuel Estrella, Manuel Arsenio Ureña.
