The mayor's office is the body responsible for ensuring that construction regulations are respected when building a house or building.
SANTO DOMINGO.-The Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) leads the statistics in 119 municipalities of the country, with 70% of the votes counted by the Central Electoral Board (JCE), according to the bulletin issued by that body at 10:30 PM last night, Sunday, February 18, 2024.
The results of the Ordinary General Municipal Elections held yesterday reveal that the projected abstention rate would exceed the 50.86% recorded in the 2020 elections, when the world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the National District, with 77.4% of the polling stations counted, the current mayor Carolina Mejía had accumulated 61.10% of the votes cast last night, ahead of Domingo Contreras, candidate of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), People's Force and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), whose counts gave him 37.63%.
The mayor's office is the body responsible for ensuring that when a house or building is constructed, the building regulations are respected to guarantee that the people who live, work or pass through the property are in the appropriate conditions, so that they can carry out their activities in a calm and comfortable manner.
In Santiago de los Caballeros, with 83.75% of the polling stations counted, Ulises Rodríguez is emerging as the winner with 61.68%, obtaining 77,645 votes, leaving behind the PLD deputy, Víctor Fadul, who obtained 37.37%.
In Santo Domingo East, Dio Astacio was far ahead (with 58.67%) of Luis Alberto, who stood at 35.15%, when 69.11% of the polling stations had been counted.
In Santo Domingo Oeste, Francisco Peña had 68.49% of the vote with 65.69% of the polling stations reporting. The former mayor of that same district was followed by Aquilino Serrata, the candidate for the Rescate RD Alliance, with 29.77%.
Meanwhile, in Santo Domingo Norte, Representative Betty Gerónimo was leading the voting with 55.52% of the votes cast, while the current mayor of that municipality and candidate of the opposition alliance, Carlos Guzmán, had 43.64% when more than 60% of the polling stations had been counted.
Similarly, in Los Alcarrizos, Junior Santos appears to be returning to the mayor's office with 67.40% of the vote, ahead of the current mayor, Cristian Encarnación, who had 15.54%, with 47.45% of the polling stations counted.
Following that trend, Nelson de la Rosa continued to win the mayoralty of San Cristóbal, with 55.26%, ahead of Nelson Guillen, who had 19.06% when 55.26% of the polling stations had been counted.
Similarly, in Baní, Santo Ramírez had 73.56% of the vote compared to 26.04% for Julio Santos, who represented the opposition. In that municipality, 96.62% of the votes had already been counted
Tourist destinations
In Pedernales, the municipal elections called for this Sunday took place with low attendance at the polling stations in the coastal province of Pedernales and without registering any incidents.
Meanwhile, in Puerto Plata, the elections concluded normally, with a moderate level of citizen participation and without major incidents, as reported by Listín Diario.
In Higuey, La Altagracia province, the main Dominican tourist center, Karina Aristy, daughter of the late "chief of Higüey" Amable Aristy, regained the mayorship of the aforementioned municipality with 51.31% of votes counted until 11 p.m. on February 18.
With 22,252 votes, Karina Aristy was emerging last night as the new mayor of the municipality of Higüey, La Altagracia province, for the Liberal Reformist Party and the allies of the PRM.
About the municipalities
The Manual of Standards and Procedures of the National District City Hall is responsible for determining the distances that all buildings must maintain towards the different limits or boundaries, whether front, side or back, of the plot or lot where the construction will later be located.
The government entity responsible for enforcing these regulations in the capital is the National District City Hall, through its Urban Planning Department, which in turn delegates its functions to the Urban Development Department. In smaller towns, the local council is responsible for establishing these regulations, and if one does not exist, the Dominican Municipal League is responsible for setting the necessary measures.
These regulations are contained in Law 6232 of 1963, which created the Department of Urban Planning, although they were repealed by Law 176-07 on Municipalities and the National District, which establishes that all municipalities must have an urban planning office.
Sources: Listín Diario and Diario Libre.
