NewsWhore
04-27-2009, 06:10 PM
"Government can't do this by itself, the private sector can't do this by itself, communities can't do this on their own. Instead, it's all of us, working together as Dominicans to overcome this crisis in the Dominican Republic." These were the words of President Leonel Fernandez during a meeting with residents in San Cristobal, to the west of Santo Domingo.
This is Fernandez's second meeting with local groups. Fernandez listened for two hours as representatives from municipalities in San Cristobal province expressed their concerns about the future of their towns and the country. The talks took place at the newly opened subsidized community cafeteria. Requests made included roads and streets, bridges, river drainage systems and water treatment plants.
Fernandez said that he would listen to all the suggestions for public works projects, saying that these could take three years, not three months, to implement. But he did promise that the construction of the industrial district would be finished within the next few months, creating thousands of jobs.
Fernandez was positive in his demeanor, commenting, "the eye of the financial hurricane has passed but it is leaving a few rains, which we will be feeling for a long time." But not all was flowery during the meeting as the Solidarity Network president Manuel Antonio Nia (Pacholi) took the opportunity to complain about the inefficiencies of municipal politicians and representatives. He spoke of the impoverished conditions that people live in and mentioned plans by some politicians to take control of state-owned lands, as well as the decaying state of local sports venues. He complained these places were being used by criminals and as drug sales points.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
This is Fernandez's second meeting with local groups. Fernandez listened for two hours as representatives from municipalities in San Cristobal province expressed their concerns about the future of their towns and the country. The talks took place at the newly opened subsidized community cafeteria. Requests made included roads and streets, bridges, river drainage systems and water treatment plants.
Fernandez said that he would listen to all the suggestions for public works projects, saying that these could take three years, not three months, to implement. But he did promise that the construction of the industrial district would be finished within the next few months, creating thousands of jobs.
Fernandez was positive in his demeanor, commenting, "the eye of the financial hurricane has passed but it is leaving a few rains, which we will be feeling for a long time." But not all was flowery during the meeting as the Solidarity Network president Manuel Antonio Nia (Pacholi) took the opportunity to complain about the inefficiencies of municipal politicians and representatives. He spoke of the impoverished conditions that people live in and mentioned plans by some politicians to take control of state-owned lands, as well as the decaying state of local sports venues. He complained these places were being used by criminals and as drug sales points.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)