Dominican Republic to receive $566 million in loans from CAF

Santo Domingo.- The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) approved the granting of two loans to the Dominican Republic, totaling 566 million dollars, aimed at enhancing water security in the capital and the province of Santo Domingo, and modernizing the penitentiary system. The initiatives respond to strategic national priorities and will improve the quality of life of millions of Dominicans, CAF affirmed in a statement released this Tuesday.

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The first operation is a financing of up to 300 million dollars for the Hatillo Dam–Santo Domingo Aqueduct Project, which will allow the construction of infrastructure for the collection, conduction, purification and distribution of drinking water from the Hatillo reservoir (northeast) to the capital. The project executed by the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation (CAASD) expands the city’s water supply by 5 cubic meters, which will allow for increased continuity, strengthened governance, integrated management, and sustainability of the water resource. According to the information, this is the largest water intervention for Greater Santo Domingo, aligned with the National Development Strategy (END) of the Dominican Republic, and will benefit around 2.7 million inhabitants. The second approved operation corresponds to the Penitentiary System Reform and Modernization Program, executed by the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings with a financing of 266 million dollars. The program, according to the CAF, seeks to reduce recidivism and promote the effective social reintegration of people deprived of their liberty through the construction and adaptation of “dignified and safe” correction and rehabilitation centers. The investment will allow to improve the physical, functional and programmatic conditions of the Dominican penitentiary system and strengthen its role in social cohesion, citizen security and labor reintegration. “These two operations reflect CAF’s commitment to the integral development of the Dominican Republic. They support decisive sectors for competitiveness and well-being, such as security and water and sanitation, which directly impact the quality of life of Dominicans and strengthen the conditions for sustainable growth,” said the president of CAF, Colombian Sergio Díaz-Granados.