P uerto Plata is breathing fresh, new air thanks to a government investment in various beach rehabilitation and hotel infrastructure projects in this popular tourism area of the Dominican Republic. The government investment was in excess of $150 million US dollars.

Among the projects that aim to guarantee the sustained growth of tourism in this traditional and important place include beach rehabilitation plans – supported by the public as well as private sector – that will take in the beaches from Long Beach to Playa Dorada. Also, included is the remodeling of the area’s hotels and infrastructure projects being carried out by the Executive Committee for Tourism Infrastructure (CEIZTUR), according to a press release from the Dominican Ministry of Tourism.

Among these endeavors is the Villa Liberación housing project to be built in Sosúa at a cost of more than RD$186 million and will be inaugurated this coming April 16.

Other infrastructure or remodeling projects underway include a treatment plant and a drainage system in Cabarete; a residual water plant in the south and southeastern regions of Puerto Plata; the upper San Marcos Highway; streets in the La Unión neighborhood and a modern Theme Park on the shores of Cabarete.

An important point to underscore is that four important Puerto Rican hotel chains have presented their proposals to the Secretary of State for Tourism (SECTUR) for the renovation of their services and installations in keeping with international standards.

The changes taking place in Puerto Plata were on display this past weekend to reporters from various media from Santo Domingo, Santiago and Puerto Plata as they toured the region with Bernardita Abbott, Deputy Secretary for Tourism in the Northern Region and Luis Paradís, Deputy Secretary for the Northern Zone.

At the end of the tour, the reporters and their hosts traveled to the poor neighborhood of El Tablón where they saw the precarious living and sanitary conditions of 700 families living there and who, on April 16, will be moved to their new homes in the modern apartment complex of Villa Liberación. In addition to the new housing and basic services, the families will have a school, a church, a police station and various recreational areas.

Sosúa Beach where a water park is being built .

Residents of El Tablón neighborhood in Sosúa. .

Bernardita Abbott, Deputy Secretary for Tourism in the Northern Region .