In his first two speeches as president for the second time, Leonel Fernández mentioned housing only once in each, always alongside hunger and unemployment, never as a separate issue
SANTO DOMINGO. – On August 16, 2004, after placing his presidential sash on him, Leonel Fernández delivered an inaugural address dedicated almost entirely to describing the magnitude of the crisis he inherited.
He cited concrete and stark figures: a gross domestic product reduced by about five billion dollars during 2003, a consolidated fiscal deficit of 56 billion pesos, an accumulated inflation of 60% and a devaluation of more than 100% against the dollar.
He added that the external debt had risen from $3.672 billion in 2000 to $7.2 billion in 2004, and that the country then carried a risk rating of CCC, the lowest in its recent history.
In the midst of that tally, Fernández announced the creation of Comer es Primero (Food First), a food assistance program conceived as an immediate response to the social deterioration caused by the crisis.
Housing, on the other hand, appeared only once in the entire speech, within a generic list of social programs: job training, housing renovation, technical assistance, and microcredit. No figures, no deadlines, and no responsible institution accompanied this mention.
Six months later, on February 27, 2005, Fernández delivered his first accountability speech before the National Assembly, and his tone had changed little. Housing appeared only once more, this time within a list of inherited ills: hunger, unemployment, and homelessness, presented as symptoms of the very crisis the government intended to address.
At that point, the speech offered neither construction goals nor announcements of specific programs for the sector.
This relative silence is not accidental when viewed in the context documented in the previous installment of this series. The country was emerging from the collapse of three commercial banks, including Baninter, with a financial system still under reconstruction and an economy just beginning to stabilize. Under these conditions, any far-reaching announcement regarding housing would have lacked immediate fiscal backing.
The very pace of construction by the National Housing Institute, which the next installment of this series documents with precise figures, confirms that this silence in speeches translated into concrete actions.
New housing production, which had averaged 1,859 units per year during Mejía's four-year term, plummeted to a mere 738 per year in the first five years of Fernández's second term. In two consecutive speeches, the president had relegated housing to the lowest priority, and his actions reflected that low priority.
Sources: Inaugural address of President Leonel Fernández, August 16, 2004, Presidency of the Republic. | Accountability address of President Leonel Fernández before the National Assembly, February 27, 2005, digital archive of the Virtual Library of the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM).
Social Housing Series in the Dominican Republic.
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