SANTO DOMINGO. – The senator from Puerto Plata, Ginnette Bournigal, took the floor again this Wednesday in the Senate of the Republic after remaining for several days under medical restriction from speaking following vocal cord surgery.
Bournigal took advantage of her intervention during this Wednesday’s session to express her indignation regarding the delay that, as she stated, the bill for the incentive of recreational nautical tourism continues to face in the National Congress .
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“I am outraged that the nautical tourism incentive bill is still circulating in Congress,” stated the legislator.
The senator’s claim comes just three days after she was involved in a peculiar scene in Congress. Last Sunday, during the opening of the Second Ordinary Legislature of 2026, Bournigal arrived at the Congress Palace unable to speak due to her recovery.
The legislator was holding a sign with the message: “Vocal cord surgery. Under medical advice, I cannot speak yet”. Her situation was confirmed after it was reported that she had recently undergone surgery and that her doctors had recommended she limit the use of her voice during recovery.
This Wednesday, however, Bournigal received authorization to speak again and used her first minutes of intervention to insist on an initiative that she considers important for the economic and tourism development of the country.
The senator identified the project as initiative 01837 and requested that it be placed on the agenda.
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“I have here initiative 01837 which I am going to submit, it is here, so that you could place it on the agenda,” he expressed to the President of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos.
Bournigal defended the proposal by considering that the Dominican Republic is failing to take advantage of the revenue generated by nautical tourism in other Caribbean destinations.
“It is shameful that hundreds of millions of dollars are being lost because it was said in the Chamber of Deputies that it was a project for the rich,” he questioned.
The legislator cited the economic activity generated by cruise ships in destinations such as the Bahamas and Saint Thomas as a reference and maintained that the Dominican Republic has the conditions to compete for that market.
He also questioned the difficulties faced by recreational boat owners in carrying out their procedures in the country.
“Whoever is going to get a permit here to have a motorboat or a sailboat has to go to the United States,” he stated.
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Bournigal maintained that the project would allow for the establishment of clear rules for the activity and proposed that the regulation be under the responsibility of the Dominican Republic Navy.
Proposal claimed by Bournigal
The initiative is not new. The bill that regulates and incentivizes recreational nautical tourism has been discussed for several years in Congress and has included aspects such as vessel registration, navigation permits, certifications, and mechanisms to stimulate the development of this activity.
The proposal has also sparked debate due to the tax incentives it includes. Its proponents have argued that these benefits are necessary to attract vessels and foster services linked to the sector, such as marinas, maintenance, repair, fuel, and other related activities.
During this Wednesday’s session, Bournigal also brought up another initiative that seeks to eliminate taxes on certain equipment, including defibrillators, and questioned why it remains pending approval.
At that moment, the president of the Senate explained that one of those initiatives had been approved by the Senate, but expired in the Chamber of Deputies.
Given this, De los Santos proposed reviewing the status of both legislative pieces before deciding on the mechanism to place them back on the agenda.
Thus, Bournigal’s return to the floor was marked by a legislative demand.
The senator who on Sunday had to communicate with a sign because her doctors still did not allow her to speak, this Wednesday regained the microphone and used it to demand that Congress unblock a bill that, in her opinion, could open a new source of income for Dominican tourism.
