UTECT and the Airport Department have begun land surveying work in Los Tres Charcos, Oviedo, to facilitate the delivery of property titles to residents relocated due to the construction of the airport terminal in Pedernales
SANTO DOMINGO.– Families relocated to make way for the construction of the Cabo Rojo International Airport have begun the process of obtaining property titles for the land they currently occupy, following the start of the measurement and delimitation work announced by the State Land Titling Technical Unit (UTECT) and the Airport Department (DA).
The operations are taking place in the community of Los Tres Charcos, municipality of Oviedo in the province of Pedernales, where residents who previously lived on land designated for airport infrastructure were relocated to other areas as part of agreements established with the authorities.
In this sense, the initiative seeks to fulfill the commitment made by the Dominican Government to provide legal security to the beneficiaries, through the regularization of their properties and the subsequent delivery of definitive title certificates.
The announcement was made during a meeting in the auditorium of the Oviedo City Hall, headed by the executive director of UTECT, Duarte Méndez Peña; the head of the Airport Department, Mérido Torres Espinal; the governor of the province, Edirda D'Oleo, and the mayor Ramón Pérez (Petete).
Relocated families await final titles
During his speech, Torres Espinal explained that the start of these actions represents progress in meeting the expectations of the community members and facilitating the legal documentation of the plots where they were established.
“Here, the future of the young people of Pedernales is being built. When I arrived at the Airport Department, I convened the provincial authorities and asked them to give us the first 100 days of their administration. Today, we are beginning this land titling project that the people of Oviedo and Los Tres Charcos have been waiting for,” he said.
The official also assured that the procedure will be carried out in accordance with the corresponding technical and legal provisions, until the procedures required for the issuance of the property certificates are completed.
In that context, he specified that, once the parcel surveys are completed, the files will be submitted to the Real Estate Jurisdiction and, once the established stages have been exhausted, the Registry of Titles will be asked to issue the corresponding documents.
“This will be a turning point in your lives. Have no fear, because the entire process will be carried out in accordance with the law. We are talking about definitive title certificates that will give you greater legal security over your properties,” Torres Espinal stated.
Land surveys and legal security
For his part, the executive director of UTECT, Duarte Méndez Peña, highlighted the changes that Pedernales is experiencing as a result of investments linked to the tourism and airport growth of the area.
“Pedernales is undergoing a great transformation, and it shows in the faces of its people. Before, it was a sleepy town, but now we can appreciate the dynamism that exists in this province. We are here following the directives of President Luis Abinader, who wants families to be able to thrive in their own towns,” he said.
Similarly, he reported that the entity's specialized brigades will begin measurements under the responsibility of surveyor Alex Ramírez, in charge of carrying out the identification and delimitation of the lots necessary to advance in their formalization.
In addition, Méndez Peña guaranteed that the procedure will be inclusive and transparent, allowing the residents themselves to participate as observers during the different phases.
“Today we are here with our land titling teams, and the surveys begin immediately. You will be observers of this process, which will be carried out in accordance with the law. We want you to become the legal owners of your land as soon as possible,” he stated.
Consequently, the public servant urged residents to cooperate with the specialists responsible for the evaluations and to maintain trust while the administrative and legal procedures are completed.
What does titling mean for owners?
Obtaining the final certificates will allow beneficiaries to have documentation that legally proves their rights over the awarded properties, a fundamental condition to strengthen the legal certainty of their assets.
Furthermore, the formalization of these plots could contribute to increasing their asset value and facilitate future real estate transactions, provided that the corresponding legal provisions are met.
From this perspective, the program takes on special importance for the community members who previously occupied land informally in the area designated for the airport and who were mobilized to allow the execution of the work.
However, the start of the technical work does not mean that the property documents have been delivered, because the procedures of the Real Estate Jurisdiction and the Title Registry must still be completed.
The 2024 agreement gave rise to the process
On the other hand, the Airport Department and the Permanent Commission for the Titling of State Lands (CPTTE) signed an inter-institutional collaboration agreement in November 2024 to manage the legalization of the properties corresponding to the people displaced by the construction of the air terminal.
Through this agreement, both entities established coordination mechanisms to advance the necessary technical and legal procedures, ensuring that the execution of the infrastructure was accompanied by compliance with the social commitments made to the affected communities.
In that order, the beginning of cadastral measurements constitutes a new stage of the actions aimed at formalizing the ownership of the plots where the former occupants were established.
Cabo Rojo Airport and the economic growth of Pedernales
In terms of the economic context, the Cabo Rojo International Airport is part of the Pedernales tourism expansion plan, which includes investments aimed at expanding air connectivity and encouraging the arrival of visitors to the southern region of the country.
The terminal is conceived as one of the components of the Cabo Rojo tourism project, with which the authorities seek to attract capital, boost productive activities and generate job opportunities.
In this way, the regularization initiative seeks to address the situation of households directly impacted by the airport construction, through the formal recognition of their rights over the assigned properties.
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