Government details progress on key infrastructure projects and denies “flaws” in the Los Alcarrizos Metro

Santo Domingo. – During the forum “Foros Business 2025: Governmental Management, Challenges, Objectives and Goals”, organized by Gala Media Group, the Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, offered a detailed update on the state of emblematic infrastructure works and categorically denied rumors about alleged construction defects in the extension of Line 2C of the Santo Domingo Metro towards Los Alcarrizos.

Paliza assured that the metro project “has no construction defects,” and that it has been built “under international parameters with appropriate international and local supervisions.” He emphasized that on this concrete infrastructure “first-class electromechanical components built by multinational companies that do not put the certainty of their brand at risk will run.” According to the minister, the physical work of the train will be completed at the end of this summer or the beginning of autumn, and the corresponding tests, which take several months, will begin at the beginning of next year, which will allow the start of operations of the Metro towards Los Alcarrizos. Paliza described the allegations of defects as a “discursive line that with some success the opposition has been establishing to discredit a great project that will change the lives of many people.”
Regarding the funds from the renegotiation with Aerodom, which amount to just over 800 million dollars, the minister denied that they have been exhausted or that there is a shortage to conclude the associated works. He explained that the renegotiation was necessary because the Las Américas International Airport (AILA) requires “improvements” and “an expansion of a new terminal and a countless number of investments” to meet the growing demand. These funds, according to Paliza, are being allocated for two main purposes:

• Materialize the improvement works at the airport, including the formal start of the new airport terminal at AILA and the inauguration and recovery of taxiway Juliet, which will function as a temporary alternate runway.
• Finance high-impact road projects in Greater Santo Domingo. These projects include the overpasses on Isabel Aguiar with 27 de Febrero, the one being built at the Plaza de la Bandera, and a new road solution on the Republic of Colombia. The latter, which will be presented soon, represents an investment of around “10,000 million pesos” and will include “seven operational returns, the construction of a marginal road, a three-level tunnel and the recovery of tributaries and ravines”. Paliza guaranteed that “all Aerodom resources are being allocated for the purpose for which they were approved”.
  

Despite the ambitious infrastructure investment plan, the Minister of the Presidency acknowledged that the government operates under “known fiscal limitations.” He pointed out that, although the need for tax reform is recognized, it is not in the government’s current plans to promote it, after a previous proposal “did not have citizen support.” Instead, the administration relies on the economic growth of the Dominican Republic, which has been “above 5% for the last 30 years”, to increase revenue and continue investing.

Paliza also addressed the perception that each ministry operates as a “separate island”, stating that the reality of the current government is one of “very good intergovernmental and inter-institutional relations”. He highlighted the usefulness of the cabinet model as an instrument that allows us to “articulate ourselves better” and “coordinate government investment, its schedules and its times”, avoiding duplication, such as the previous practice of Public Works paving a street and months later, Inapa opening it to install pipes. In summary, Dominican government management is presented as a coordinated and transparent effort, where investment in infrastructure is a central piece driven by strategic resources and a long-term vision.