Smaller
BiggerMore than 87,000 permits are being processed to employ Haitians on construction sites
Haitian workers have a high presence in the construction sector.
Santo Domingo.- While the government adopts 15 measures to regulate irregular migration, including repatriating undocumented Haitians, the construction sector manages work permits or special visas to regularize foreign labor in formal work.
The president of the Dominican Association of Home Builders and Developers (Acoprovi), Annerys Meléndez, stated this during the inauguration of the “Seventeenth Construction Industry Exhibition 2025.”
He explained that the National Labor Force Survey of the Central Bank states that the construction sector has 435,000 employees, and according to statistics, 20% of them are irregular foreigners.
“To comply with the 80/20, we have calculated that 20% are 87,000 who could have the possibility of being foreigners and it is a request from our sector of Acoprovi to see how we can get them to grant work permits or visas to those 87,000 immigrants,” said Annerys Meléndez.
He assured that this legal status process in the Caribbean country is marked in legal parameters, so “we do not need a change in the current regulations on the issue of migration.”
During her speech, the union member stated that Dominicans are not interested in construction work and that foreign employability is necessary in the country.
“Foreign labor is necessary because there are rudimentary tasks within construction, which Dominicans are not interested in doing and it is not only a local reality. Internationally, it is usual for immigrants to carry out these more rudimentary tasks,” said the Acoprovi president, indicating that these permits are needed immediately.
He pointed out that the Dominican Association of Builders and Developers of Housing has requested the opening of Dominican consulates so that they can issue visas.
“We have to understand that if we have foreigners who need a visa, but there are no consulates that give it to them, then it would be impossible to get these foreigners to have a work permit or a work visa to have a legal workforce,” he said.
Industry challenges
In line with the president of Acoprovi’s statement, the general coordinator of Construexpo, Miriam Batista, pointed out that the workforce situation is a challenge for the sector and stressed that it is not the only problem.
“The construction sector presents as many challenges as many of our industries. Mainly, for example, we have issues with financing, interest rates, also labor issues, which is something that is ongoing, looking for solutions to those issues and many others,” Batista said.
Workers’ wages
In a statement offered to Listin Diario, the president of Acoprovi, Annerys Meléndez, referred to the salary earned by employees in the construction sector and pointed out that it does not depend on the nationality of those who perform it.
He explained that within the sector, there are minimum wage resolutions that set out the labor costs for each task and indicated that they exist per day and per work performed.
Another greedy, corrupt puppet advocating for cheap labor since Dominicans are “lazy” for not wanting to work for slave wages. There are many solutions, such as mechanizing the agriculture and construction industry so that the need for human labor is significantly reduced, and positions that are still needed can be filled with a salary increase for workers. It’s disgusting to see these traitors opt for a passive invasion to keep their profit margins high and continue the corruption on the island. In their head, if they can save a couple of million dollars on a project, it’s worth replacing the native Dominican population with Haitians. If we allow this to continue as it has for the last 25 years, you will continue to see “Dominicans” who don’t look Dominican at all. Eventually, no real significant number of Dominicans will be left on the island. I ask you, is that the future you want for our country? We need to fight against the DOMINICAN TRAITORS who, on all levels, are advocating for this future. They will fight the deportations, the Dominicanization of wages and workers in all sectors of the country. We have little time, but we can still change our trajectory if we come together to face this crisis. So I implore you, fellow Dominicans, fight for our country; she needs you.
NO NO NO NO!!!!!!! Not a single job should be given to a foreigner while there are Dominicans able to take said jobs, and there are plenty! Sure they may need training, but it is easily doable. These greedy people simply want to continue exploiting the Haitians willing to do it for less money! Pay Dominicans a decent wage! Haitians can go back to Haiti and build their country!
Although I don’t entirely disagree with your opinion, I don’t think it’s that simple. Dominican workers require and demand higher wages, which will make housing prices surge even more. If you think DR is getting expensive now, then eliminating migrant labor completely will not improve that. I just don’t think there is a clear and simple solution to this dilemma.
Your statement is perfect. It should be simple to understand there is no such thing as higher labor costs and cheaper buildings. People need to completely understand cause and effect.
Fkng traitors, they should employee Dominican workers and pay them fair wages. Giving out permits to illegal immigrants only contribute to the Haitian invasion and population replacement.. Those Haitian learn to work construction in DR. In the 80’s all the construction workers were Dominican, but gradually they’ve been bringing illegals to replace Dominicans in order to pay them lower salaries with no benefits. TRAITORS!
This is all because they refuse to pay the right salary for the job. they rather pay for cheap labor. this happens everywhere.