Diario Libre reports on the reactions of urban planners to the proposed island off the Malecon. “We are not Miami, nor San Juan. These designer projects are not appropriate for a poor country,” said urban planner and landscape designer Amparo Chantada. Her views are shared by Joaquin Geronimo, president of the national council for urban affairs, and Andres Navarro, Santo Domingo’s municipal urban planning director. Both believe that the country has more pressing needs. Chantada defined this sort of project as an “aberration”, saying that it would only attract “wealthy tourists who make no cultural contribution to the country”. She highlighted the environmental cost of such a venture, and said that the Malecon itself needed to be restored before embarking on new projects. Andres Navarro called on urban planners and architects to direct their talents towards the city’s poor neighborhoods. “This (island) will only accelerate the unequal development of different parts of the city. Some areas look as if they are in the Middle Ages, while others are ultra-modern”. Navarro listed his priorities for the city as follows: revamping poor neighborhoods, re-housing people living in high-risk areas, improving public transport and designing a “greenbelt” project. Meanwhile, the newspapers report that the island’s developers have already applied for building permits. The project is reported to be worth at least US$300 million, according to El Caribe.
Diario Libre’s back page comic strip, Rosca Izquierda, manages to link the two stories: one character asks: “with so many other needs, why are they building a Metro?” The reply: “I suppose it’s so we can travel to the island they’re planning to build off the Malecon”.