The Opret concludes the digging of the tunnel for Line 2 East of the Metro

Close to noon yesterday, the Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (Opret) carried out on the San Vicente de Paul Avenue the connection of the project, initiated on 31 March 2014.

Before leaving the completion of the underground tunnel, the Opret director, Diandino Peña, said that the next stage will consist in ending the concrete work, placing the drainage, the floor, the counter plates and finally the rails.

"This is an historic moment, because never before in the Dominican Republic have they joined the Metro tunnel of an unprecedented geotechnical complexity with characteristics of an above ground facility, he said.

At kilometer 1.2 of the tunnel, the official recalled that the cost of the project (tunnel, stations and cable bridge) amounts to US$385 million.

In this sense he noted that the cable bridge will cost RD$2.5 billion, and the six trains (including electromechanical projects and technological material) are close to US$95 million.

"This line (the extension of Line 2), we foresee that it could explode those two lines (Lines 1 and 2), because the flow of persons that is going to come here and going there, we are not capable of receiving them, which means to say that in the next government, or in this one, they will have to put on their agenda an increase of the inventory of trains in order to be able to absorb this flow, because this is going to generate more riders than those that are on the other side (National District and Villa Mella)," he explained.

The extension of Line 2 of the Santo Domingo Metro will connect the National District with the municipality of East Santo Domingo.

Government spends US$120 million

Diandino Peña revealed that so far the Government has disbursed for the L2 East some US$120 million, which represents some 30% of the work.

Nonetheless, he referred to the fact that the Opret has managed to achieve with the first payment 45% of the project, "which means that the contractors have carried on their shoulders the cost through financing, and lines of credit for the difference. This is a demonstration of confidence of the contractors in the government, and we expect that this remains until the end."

This means that they owe the contractors between US$20 million and US$25 million, said the engineer.

"Evidently, until now the government has made an outstanding effort in order to provide resources in the midst of the scarcities and necessities that it feels and the demands which it has."

He said that the financial flow will determine whether or not the first tests of the railway system are carried out between April and May of 2016.

Observing the moment of connection were the Senator for the province of Santo Domingo, Cristina Lizardo; the mayor of East Santo Domingo, Juan de los Santos, and the deputy director of Opret, Leonel Carrasco.

Merchants will not be paid an indemnity

Before they started with the joining of the tunnel, a group of business owners from the San Vicente de Paul Avenue, complained of the losses which their businesses have suffered since the beginning of the work on the construction of the L2 East of the Santo Domingo Metro.

Their spokesman, Rafael Vasquez, understands that some 25 businessmen,(the owners of pharmacies, tire repairs stations, colmados, stores, car dealers) should receive an indemnity.

"We agree with the construction of the Metro, that's fine, we are also conscious of the fact that our businesses cannot go bankrupt, because as merchants we have fixed expenses. We believe that we deserve some type of compensation."

Regarding this, the Opret director noted that the Government does not have the capacity to reimburse the losses in the proportion that they deserve.

"The merchants are paying the quota which corresponds to them, because they are going to be favored regarding the surplus value and the flow of people. What has happened in Villa Mella, is that a property that before cost 2 million now costs eight. Then, those merchants, without knowing it, are paying for the sacrifice, and they are helping the Metro get done."

Other work

The Opret is carrying out the construction work on the four stations of the L2 East, located on the San Vivente de Paul Avenue. Likewise, the 800 m long cable bridge over the Ozama River is also being done by Opret. The line will run from the Francisco Del Rosario Sanchez Bridge (De la 17) to the Megacentro shopping mall.