The truth is that, after so many years, after so many governments, just like in many other areas and in many other sectors, we have had to come to power to do something so basic, to correct it."
SANTO DOMINGO.- The structure of the Dominican Presidential House has had to be remodeled, given the deterioration in which its new tenants found it, who discovered that even the elevators were out of service due to malfunctions, President Luis Abinader stated yesterday.
"When we arrived, even the elevators were damaged," said the president, who wondered how it was possible that the land where the National Palace stands is not even clear, referring to the ongoing legal process between the government and the family that owns part of the land where the National Palace was built.
The ruler blamed the situation on all the leaders who were tenants before him of the Presidential House, located in Gascue, in the National District.
"The truth is that, after so many years, after so many governments, just like in many other areas and in many other sectors, we have had to come to the Government to correct something so basic," Abinader declared.
Abinader stated that they have had to make many adjustments to the structure of the Presidential House.
Regarding the land, he noted that there is a commission working on its demarcation.
The team is coordinated by the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency, which has met with the Lluberes Saviñón family, the original owners of the land, to resolve the impasse amicably.
In this regard, José Ignacio Paliza, head of the aforementioned ministry, said that the commission has taken all the legal steps and that they are only waiting for the rulings of the corresponding court so that the lands are in the name of the Dominican State.
He clarified that the family is not seeking financial gain, but rather recognition as the donors of the land for the Government House.
In the coming days, the commission will meet with the Lluberes Saviñón family and "we will gladly do so," said the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, who reiterated that the land belongs to the State, but that a process must be exhausted.
The story
In 1907, Pedro Antonio Lluberes Saviñón donated the land to build the Santo Tomás de Aquino University there, but in 1943, the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina declared 43,000 square meters of public utility and built the Government House, without any of the subsequent leaders carrying out the corresponding processes to obtain the definitive titles.
