City Hall, Dominican government lock horns over “garage “university

Santo Domingo.- Office State Works Engineers Supervisors (OISOE) director Miguel Pimentel on Thursday reiterated the Government’s plan to build a pedestrian walk in front of Caribe University including (Unicaribe) , dubbed a “garage university” for the hasty manner in which it was built.

The official’s announcement locks horns with the National District City Council, which banned such a structure, noting it would ruin the coastal landscape and violate the South Shore National Park, the strip of greenery parallel to El Malecon seaside boulevard.

But Pimentel, after affirming that an “understanding” was reached with the National District authorities, said if the City Council wants to keep Unicaribe students from using the area to park, it only needs a tow truck to haul away their vehicles.

He said the construction of the pedestrian walk is to protect human lives, while critics including Unicaribe’s neighbors living in the Dominicanos Ausente sector, who note that the overpass would only lead to further sprawl and complain of the university’ chaotic expansion.