Smaller
BiggerFrom slum to ecological parklands
Santo Domingo.- The government, through the ImplementingUnit for the Readaptation of La Barquita and Environs (URBE), has startedpreparatory work for planting 27,000 plants in La Vieja Barquita, as part ofthe process of converting the former slum area into an ecological river park.
The 150,000m2 area, which will be reforested with40 endemic tree species, will be administered as an ecological area by theNational Botanical Gardens.
Grass will be planted along the riverbank to preventerosion.
La Vieja Barquita will soon become an area that citizens can enjoy, as well as for education via a new “Ecological Trail”.
The park will only be accessible on foot or by bicycle.
The project includes the construction of nine water-treatment plants to ensure that water from the heavily populated Los Mina Nortearea reaches the Ozama River free of pollution. This river will soon be servedby a water-bus, for which several docks will be built.
La Vieja Barquita was a very poor neighborhood that was in astate of neglect and was exposed to frequent flooding. In order to improve quality of life for its residents, President Danilo Medina ordered the construction ofLa Nueva Barquita, with new housing for more than 1,700 families.
