By Gissel Taveras
El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO- The president of the Dominican Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Construction Companies (Copymecon), Eliseo Cristopher, stated yesterday that there was no irresponsibility on the part of the City Council or the construction company in the accident that occurred early Sunday morning in the Evaristo Morales sector, where two people died when their vehicle fell into a hole at a construction project.
“Regarding the responsibility of the municipal government, meaning the Santo Domingo City Council, in that accident, we did not see any type of violations,” he states.
He explains that, at the corner, precisely where many accidents have occurred, there are protective curbs or walls, which are piles designed to withstand the impact of a vehicle.
“Now that’s on the corner, we also saw that the construction company, which we don’t know, has its perimeter fence very well prepared, with deep excavations that are done in all scenarios and a perimeter fence complying with all the requirements that we use in our constructions, “We don’t see a violation,” Cristopher reiterated.
Regarding the accident, he stated that the vehicle was traveling from west to east, and when it passed the corner, it was hit on the rear left corner, causing it to spin. It continued at the same speed, heading north, and changed direction in seconds, passing the curbs or walls that contained the impact. It then spun sharply due to the collision and continued straight into the hole, unfortunately with fatal results.
“At that speed, the perimeter fence is hit, and of course, that fence is not designed to withstand the impact of a vehicle coming at 40 or 60 kilometers per hour, neither that fence nor any other fence in the construction area, unless it is on high-density roads, in which case certain requirements are used, such as Jersey barriers placed in front of the perimeter fence,” explained the representative of the small and medium-sized builders.
He asserted that on a street that is not very busy, that does not have much vehicular traffic, and where vehicles are supposed to travel between 30 and 40 kilometers per hour, the New Jersey wall is not necessary.
In his opinion, the construction company complied with its regulatory walls and was building in accordance with the regulations.
“It saddens us that there was an accident that we have seen many times in movies, but we had never seen it in person.”.
He considers it to have been a completely atypical accident, one that will not happen for many years, not of that same nature.
“We are saddened by this tragic accident that shocked Dominican society this Sunday in Ensanche Evaristo Morales, where two young people lost their lives,” Christopher concluded.
