With the start of work on the Anamuya prison, the president reaffirms his commitment to prison reform and settles a historic debt with the municipality of Higüey.
The Altagracia.- President Luis Abinader inaugurated this Saturday in the province of La Altagracia, the Domingo Maíz highway in Verón, a bridge in La Otra Banda and began the construction of an Anamuya preventive correctional center in Higüey.
These works are added to the infrastructures that allow us to continue improving people’s quality of life.
Together with the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, the reconstruction of the Domingo Maíz road and its interconnection with Punta Cana Avenue was inaugurated, with an investment of more than RD$ 135 million.
During the event, President Abinader highlighted the importance of the approval, in the last four years, of the Territorial Reorganization Law, which he considered essential for the sustainability of socioeconomic and environmental development, being able to determine what can be authorized in each sector.
He added that in the coming days the first land use plan for the municipality of Verón will be worked on, which has already been approved and agreed upon.
He also said that tourism must continue to grow in an orderly manner with the support of the business community, merchants and residents of this tourist province.
For his part, Minister Collado highlighted that the Domingo Maíz highway will have a positive impact, being “another evidence of the clear vision of President Luis Abinader to continue strengthening the most important destination in the country, which receives the majority of tourists who visit us.”
The work, an old demand of the community, consisted of the reconstruction of 3.90 kilometers, divided into 2 sections with a variable width of Domingo Maíz Street, from Las Palmas city to the north, to the intersection of the Eastern Tourist Boulevard.
Bridge over Yauya Creek
Later, the Head of State went to the La Otra Banda community, where he inaugurated the bridge over the Yauya stream, which had collapsed after Hurricane Fiona and other atmospheric phenomena in 2022, making it now more modern and safer for vehicles and pedestrians.
The Minister of Public Works, Deligne Ascensión, highlighted that this project had an investment of more than RD$ 92 million, but that in the entire province, said institution has invested more than RD$ 5,600 million in four years.
This bridge is vital for communication through the road that links the communities of La Otra Banda-Cruz del Isleño, El Salado, Macao and Nisibón, directly impacting an area that has a fertile valley considered among the first places in milk production at a national level.
In addition, this road has great value for the tourist development of the area.
Construction of Preventive Correctional Center begins
Finally, the president and the Minister of Housing and Buildings, Carlos Bonilla, started the construction work of the Anamuya Preventive Correctional Center, in Higüey, thus settling a historical debt with this municipality.
“Today we want to put an end to overpopulation, overcrowding and prison insecurity in Higüey by building a decent and safe penitentiary center. A reality that begins here and now,” said Abinader.
He added that prevention, deterrence and reintegration actions must be improved and addressed in a joint and coordinated manner with the collective effort to achieve the goal of a country free of violence.
He stressed his commitment to prison reform and to all the goals necessary to change this country. “I won’t be able to do everything at once, but, just as I am fulfilling my promises before you today, I will continue working to fulfill, one by one, all my commitments. Don’t doubt it.”
Meanwhile, Bonilla said that this work “is part of our commitment to the mandate of our President Luis Abinader, who has promoted an unprecedented investment in construction so that the Dominican Republic has buildings and structures of the highest quality.”
The correctional center will have an administrative building, a search area, a sports field, a dining room, separate cells for men and women, a surveillance tower, a guarded entrance, a visitor’s booth, sentry boxes, and garbage and gas departments.
Present at the event were the Minister of Administration of the Presidency, Igor Rodríguez; the Minister of Tourism, David Collado; the Governor Martina Pepén; the Senator Virgilio Cedano; the Mayor Karina Aristy; the President of the DNCD, Vice Admiral José Manuel Cabrera Ulloa; the Director of Comipol, Major General Rafael Vásquez Espínola and the Deputy Attorney General, Rodolfo Espiñeira Ceballos.