DGAPP presents new Amber highway construction proposal

The executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), Sigmund Freund, presented a new proposal for constructing the Amber highway and its financial structuring to Santiago businessmen.

He explained that the new proposal contemplates linking the Circunvalación de Santiago avenue, the Punta Bergantín tourist real estate project, and the Amber highway to create a circuit that generates efficiency and boosts the economic development of the northern part of the country.

He recalled that the modern highway, with an estimated investment of US$400 million, will connect Santiago with Puerto Plata in a four-lane route and two tunnels of 1.8 and 0.7 kilometers, respectively.

He said that the business sector was represented by Sandy Filpo, president of the Association of Merchants and Industrialists (ACIS), that the same will facilitate that users can reach their destination in less than 30 minutes, which he said will boost trade and the flow of visitors between the two provinces.

He also indicated that the innovative mechanism announced for this work by President Luis Abinader is based on the fact that the tax revenues of the Central Government will not be involved but that the contribution of the State is in kind, committing the private sector to acquire a tourist land and to exploit it also to support the economic development of the North Coast.

Freund emphasized that, as the head of State has mentioned on several occasions, the project does not contemplate a shadow toll so that the financial resources of future generations are not compromised.

He pointed out the benefits of building this highway under the public-private alliance model, indicating that this will create a synergy that will enhance productive, commercial, and tourism activities, facilitating the implementation of the multi-destination for visitors to the Atlantic coast.

After the meeting, the executive director of the DGAPP toured several points along the route of the Amber Highway in both Santiago and Puerto Plata, accompanied by a technical team from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) and the RD Vial Trust.