By Yamalie Rosario and Ana María Ramos
El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO.-Actors from the real estate, construction and tourism sectors highlighted the inefficiency of the government's online services through the Single Window for Construction (VUC) and the Ministry of Tourism's portal, known as One Mitur.
This was the opinion expressed separately by Cristian Rojas, former president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors (CODIA), a builder (whose opinion was given on condition of anonymity), and architect Emiliano Familia. Only one of those consulted, Melchor Alcántara, a construction businessman, gave a positive assessment of the government's online platforms and said he used those of the Property Registry, INTRANT (National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation), and the National District City Hall.
The reaction came after they were consulted by El Inmobiliario, following a report by the media outlet highlighting information about the existence of online websites offering services in the construction, real estate, and tourism sectors.
In the case of the former president of CODIA, Cristian Rojas, he was categorical in questioning the inefficiencies of the VUC because, for him, it has little staff and does not have regional offices as, he assures, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) had functioning for those same objectives.
“That is detrimental to the country's development because if construction permits are not expedited, that industry cannot grow, and this year and in 2022 there has been a decrease in the development of projects,” said the civil engineer who served as president of CODIA during the 2022-2023 period, with great concern.
He questioned why there is “only” one employee in the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED) to approve parking projects, and that this employee performs that role at the institution's headquarters.
“So, imagine all the projects at the national level with only one person in charge of that department. That's a deficiency,” he says.
Another weakness that MIVHED claims to have is the lack of regional offices in the most important cities due to the number of construction project applications, which would allow for faster permitting.
He indicated that until regional offices are re-established in important cities such as Santiago, La Vega, Punta Cana, San Francisco de Macorís, Moca, and Valverde, where many important projects are underway, the service will be inefficient and builders will face many obstacles in advancing their projects.
Another weakness is that the vuc.gob.do is very slow and, lacking sufficient staff, its service is very limited.
A builder, who asked to remain anonymous, told El Inmobiliario that state-run online services have their "problems and need to be analyzed carefully.".
He asserted that "the Single Window for Construction of the Ministry of Housing is nowhere near as good as the previous one of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications because they have implemented a system where each project is sent to the jurisdiction to which it territorially belongs.".
The civil engineer argues that, although he is a “friend” of the Minister of Housing and Buildings, Carlos Bonilla Sánchez, he knows that Bonilla uses retaliation and does not want to file a complaint that could reveal his identity because he has several projects awaiting approval.
He argued that, although the previous system offered by Public Works was focused on the headquarters in the capital, it worked more quickly and efficiently and users received a response in less than a week, but now the response period has increased and can take up to a month.
He stated that there are areas of the country such as Santo Domingo, Santiago and Punta Cana that have a large number of projects, but the staff in charge of handling these procedures is as minimal as if it were in other areas of the country with less demand.
“In other words, they are not prepared for so many jobs… This new system is not very efficient, and I ask myself, why change a system as new when the one from the Ministry of Public Works worked perfectly? There was no need, it was simply a matter of changing the name,” he lamented.
He also referred to one.mitur.gob.do and stated that, although many services can now be managed virtually, when the user needs to communicate with someone to discuss a document issue, they do not receive attention "because it is impossible".
Meanwhile, architect Emiliano Familia reported that they usually take a long time to respond and if there is a problem with the documentation there is no way to "defend oneself".
“Everything is very closed off with this process,” he said, recommending that ideally, these government platforms should offer the option of speaking directly with the technician who is evaluating the project in order to find solutions to the problem.
But the above questions are far removed from the perception of the construction businessman, Melchor Alcántara, who succinctly replied, "Yes, they work and are widely used.".
When questioned about which services he uses, he said the one from the Real Estate Jurisdiction.
