Hoteliers issue SOS for Dominican capital’s famous Malecon

Santo Domingo.- Urban sprawl, poor street lighting, lack ofsafety and culverts figure among the difficulties facing the capital’s famousMalecon, some of which were criticized by the National Hotels and Tourism Association(Asonahores) to the National District City Council in 2009

The Malecon’s span of several kilometers still languishes sevenyears later, waiting for the city council to keep its promise to recover theemblematic area completely.

According to diariolibre.com, the east-to-west highwayalong the Caribbean reveals neglect and likely why tourists forego the entirestretch and ride the horse-drawn carriages only from the Colonial Zone until LincolnAv.

The tourists who venture beyond that span would face theperil of missing manhole covers, the nauseating smell of filthy gutters, and rustypower poles without lamps.

The grim panorama includes trash dumped on the sidewalk, constructiondebris and branches which pose a threat to pedestrians.

The outlet says the Malecon also suffers from destroyedbenches, potholes in urgent need of repair, palm trees not pruned, lack of aroad median, in addition to the homeless who live next to the Caribbean coast.

“What happened to ??the National District City Council’s ideaof turning the south coast into a tourism and leisure attraction, rooted in amodern city? What happened to the desire of building playgrounds and spaciousparking? And where did the seaside boulevard from Lincoln Avenue to LuperonAvenue end up? What went wrong?”