SANTO DOMINGO.- Cristian Rojas, president of CODIA, the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, asserted that the authorities of the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED) are not interested in confronting the illegal construction projects taking place in the country.
“I want you to see all the projects we have notified you about, including important private projects in the East of the country that do not have the required documentation, and they are ignoring it,” the union leader told El Inmobiliario digital.
“We reported it,” he added, “and we notified them. Before, we did it to Public Works, now to MIVHED, but they don’t execute it, they don’t have that interest.”.
Rojas explained that previously, the union he leads had the support of the public works department. “When we reported a construction project to the inspection department, we received their full support.”.
He said that only in the last two months "are we receiving support from the Ministry of Housing; when we see a construction project that does not meet the requirements, we report it and they come.".
In his opinion, the authorities responsible for granting permits are not as forceful in prosecuting illegal construction, noting that the effort should begin with the municipalities, and that they should denounce "all those illegal construction projects, which are the majority.".
He said that as CODIA they do not have the legal power to stop projects, and that they are limited to putting up the sign stating that the work is stopped, but the owners come and take them down and continue building.
“But if we had an agreement like the one I'm proposing with the Public Prosecutor's Office, a project would be immediately halted and not legalized, then we could do a good job,” explained the president of the codians.
Durable works
According to their arguments, there are many buildings in the country that would withstand a major earthquake because they have earthquake-resistant structures.
“There are no anti-seismic structures, but rather earthquake-resistant structures that are designed in such a way that when an earthquake occurs, people can leave the building and it has such resistance that its residents can leave before it suffers considerable damage or collapses.”.
He explained that since 2011, housing developers and owners of private buildings have been hiring a structural engineer and an architect for the design of their projects. "Logically, a structural engineer has to apply seismic principles and design earthquake-resistant structures for all the projects they legalize and submit to the Public Works Department, because otherwise the plans won't be approved.".
"So from 2011 and before that date because the standard applies earthquake resistance starting from 1979, so there are many structures like that.".
Rojas opined that no foreign investor risks their capital on any project without possessing the corresponding designs, and they spare no resources because some projects require financing, and to access a bank, it is mandatory to have approved plans with all the corresponding designs.
