Santo Domingo. – The President Luis Abinader made a tour this Monday through the sector Nuevo Amanecer of kilometer 18 of the Duarte highway, in the municipality of Los Alcarrizos, impacted after the passage of the trough, with the purpose of supervising the situation firsthand, the actions of response deployed by the Government and the assistance provided to the affected families.
During the tour, President Abinader assured that the Government is bringing a response to the affected families and added that there are emergency resources to assist the population. “Here, food is also being given to those who are affected, and starting tomorrow, when the water goes down, we are going to give them belongings and also appliances to those who are affected. Just as we will also do to all vulnerable families in the country.”
President Abinader stated that, prior to the situation, resources had already been allocated to intervene in these areas and recalled that since last year he had given some funds, some 90 million pesos, also indicating that those resources were advanced and that, with the complementary budget, more funds will be allocated to the city council to continue the work in the ravines.
The president explained that, in coordination with the city council, work has been done on both the large and small canals, including larger interventions in the Jicaco canal, as well as in the Lebrón stream, which extends from Pedro Brand, where two bridges have already been built and continues to impact the most vulnerable areas. “All the floods here have to do with that part of the Lebrón stream”, he said.
Likewise, the president informed that he will visit other affected areas, highlighting the municipalitiesMontellano and Imbert, in Puerto Plata, as the most impacted. He indicated that, from early hours, officials were deployed to different provinces to address the emergencies.
On his part, the mayor of Los Alcarrizos, Junior Santos, explained that the situation recorded is unprecedented in the municipality and pointed out that the origin of the situation is in the Lebrón stream and that President Abinader has already arranged support to develop a canalization project with gabion walls as a definitive solution.“Here, unfortunately, what happened had never happened in the 50 years we have been walking in Los Alcarrizos. Today we are being affected. Now, that has also coincided with solutions that have been planned,” he said, while adding that the Jicaco stream, which is about two kilometers, already has more than 600 meters boxed in, and that the situation occurred in the middle of that construction process.
Santos reported that, at the mouth of the Jicaco creek, about 7 million pesos have already been delivered to compensate the families whose properties were demolished to make way for the construction of a park. He also indicated that there is already a section of about 400 meters of this creek that has been converted into a park. He also reported that about 36 points are being impacted with creek channeling and construction of box culvert bridges to improve communication between sectors, while explaining that the municipality has 83 kilometers of creeks, with the Lebrón stream and the Jicaco creek being the most affected.
The mayor also indicated that approximately 280 million pesos have already been put out to tender to continue the work and specified that “1,800 families were affected here in Nuevo Amanecer alone; in La Islita, 300 families; in Brisa del Lebrón, 1,250; 47 in La Fe, and between 25 and 30 families in general.”
President Abinader was accompanied on the tour by the directors of the Directorate of Social Assistance and Community Food (Dasac), Edgar Félix; of the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewer Corporation (Caasd), Fellito Suberví; the president of the Presidential Commission for Support to Barrio Development, Rolfi Rojas, and the mayor of Guáyiga, Mirtha Elena Pérez (La Popi).
