SANTO DOMINGO. The more than 70 kilometers of road being built and rebuilt on the stretch between Enriquillo and Pedernales, which are part of the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales Tourism Development project, are in advanced stages and could be ready before the end of 2023.
The Minister of Public Works, Deligne Ascensión, and the Executive Director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), Sigmund Freund, visited the site and expressed their satisfaction with the significant progress made on the project, noting that both the project's internal roads and the Enriquillo-Pedernales highway could be ready before the end of the year.
Ascención and Freund conducted a supervisory tour of the progress made in the construction of the Enriquillo-Pedernales highway, the internal roads and other works being carried out in the aforementioned project.
The officials' tour began at the camp of the companies responsible for the road works, located in Juancho, where they received detailed and updated information on the construction and rehabilitation process of more than 70 kilometers of road between Enriquillo and Pedernales.
Likewise, both officials visited the area where the first hotels of the first stage of the project are being built, which will be operated by the international hotel chains Iberostar, Secrets, Dreams and Ziva.
“The construction of this road, which runs from Enriquillo to Pedernales, Pedernales-Cabo Rojo, and also connects Enriquillo-Barahona with the Azua and Baní bypasses, represents the take-off of this area, and thus allows us to fulfill what has been a desire of the President of the Republic, to boost this important development hub that Pedernales represents,” said Minister Deligne Ascención.
The CEO of DGAPP highlighted that the Ministry of Public Works has been intervening rapidly in order to complete the entire circuit required by this project.
During the tour, the Minister of Public Works was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Public Works, Roberto Herrera, and representatives of the contracting companies Andalar and GECO, which are responsible for the road works underway.
Meanwhile, the director of the DGAPP was accompanied by the institution's technical sub-director, Eliardo Cairo, the director of the Pro-Pedernales Trust's Executive Unit, José Rafael Miguel, and the technical manager of the Trust, Víctor Cedeño.
As part of the agenda, officials visited the port of Cabo Rojo, where the cruise terminal and wastewater treatment plant for the new southern tourist destination are being built.
Details of the works
The internal roads of the Pedernales Tourism Development Project, Cabo Rojo, consist of approximately 18 kilometers, 14.7 km in the main road that extends from the entrance of the project from the Enriquillo-Pedernales highway, to La Cueva.
The secondary road extends from the vicinity of the distributor (Enriquillo-Pedernales) passing through the Cabo Rojo dock, to the intersection with the main road.
Over 70 km of the Enriquillo-Pedernales road are being rehabilitated to improve access to the town of Pedernales and the project. The road alignment is being revised to increase the speed limit from 60 km/h to 80 km/h.
According to the estimated schedule, the internal roads of the Cabo Rojo project will be ready by December, while the Enriquillo-Pedernales highway will be at a high percentage of completion.
General project information
The Pedernales-Cabo Rojo Tourism Development Project is designed to be carried out in four phases, over an average period of 10 years, with an estimated investment of US$2.245 billion. The first phase will include the construction of approximately 4,700 hotel rooms (and by the end of the project, the southern region will have a total of 12,000 rooms). It will also include the international airport in Pedernales, a shopping center, and the completion of all necessary basic infrastructure, such as the construction of an aqueduct, a water treatment plant, and an electrical transmission system.
