Dominican Republic to regularize land titles of national monuments and cultural heritage sites

Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Culture and the State Land Titling Technical Unit (UTECT) signed a cooperation agreement aimed at regularizing and legally registering properties that house national monuments, historical sites, archaeological areas, and heritage buildings owned by the Dominican State.

The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Culture by Minister Roberto Ángel Salcedo and UTECT Executive Director Duarte Méndez Peña, who both underscored the importance of the alliance for protecting the country’s cultural and historical assets. Minister Salcedo emphasized that proper land ownership is essential to preserving tangible and intangible heritage, in line with the vision of President Luis Abinader to safeguard Dominican cultural patrimony within the legal framework.

Under the agreement, UTECT will provide technical, cadastral, and registry support to identify, measure, and regularize the lands where heritage assets are located, in accordance with Law 108-05 on Real Estate Registration. This includes deploying surveyors and technical teams, conducting field and registry investigations, and processing the corresponding legal procedures. The Ministry of Culture will supply documentation, accompany fieldwork, identify the properties involved, and cover all associated costs.

The initiative seeks to ensure clear ownership and legal protection of state-owned cultural properties, many of which are currently located on lands managed by different public institutions. The agreement will be valid for three years and includes the creation of a joint monitoring committee to oversee compliance. Both institutions highlighted that the regularization of public heritage assets is a strategic step toward institutional strengthening, cultural preservation, and territorial sovereignty of the Dominican Republic.