The government awarded the ITM Port Investments Consortium the public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the conversion of Puerto Duarte into Arroyo Barril-Samaná, into a cruise terminal and tourist facility zone.
The General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP) and the Dominican Port Authority (Apordom) reported theaward to the Consortium,After exhausting an open and transparent competitive process, the National Council of Public Private Partnerships (CNAPP) awarded the first infrastructure project to be developed through a PPP contract, under the scheme of Law 47-20.
The executive director of the DGAPP, Sigmund Freund, expressed his satisfaction with what he said is“a great milestone for the country, since this is the first infrastructure project that will be developed through a public-private partnership contract, under the tutelage of Law 47-20, which is barely three years old and is in force in Dominican law”.
Freund stressed that this project is part of the decision of the Government of President Luis Abinader to position the country in aCaribbean Cruise Huband added that this new terminal will promote a greater dynamism of tourism and commerce in the province, creating about 1,050 direct and indirect jobs.
He added that this is the second project of a tourism nature that is being carried out in the country under the responsibility of the DGAPP and that it hasan estimated investment of US$68 million, equivalent to RD$3,800 million. Likewise, he pointed out that the arrival of approximately 400,000 cruise passengers per year is expected from 2026.
The executive director of Apordom, Jean Luis Rodríguez, indicated that, Currently, Puerto Duarte, which was inaugurated in 1977, has 19 permanent employees and its operations are based on the reception of loose general cargo.Therefore, the cruise terminal will represent an opportunity to generate new jobs and ventures in Samaná and enhance the tourist offer, which he said will lead to social and economic development for the entire Northeast region and the Central Cibao.
Rodriguez explained thatThe arrival of 161 ships per year is estimated at this cruise terminal, with approximately 3,300 passengers., coming from Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Curaçao, Barbados, Montego Bay, Saint Lucia, Tampa Bay and New York. “This terminal is designed to accommodate up to one million visitors per year, which will undoubtedly lead us towards the consolidation of our country as a Caribbean Cruise Hub,” said the official.
He pointed out thatThis is the first time in the history of the Dominican Republic that the consignment of a port is carried out through a public-private partnership.since they are generally established through concessions, as provided by Law 70-70 that creates the Dominican Port Authority.
This initiative proposes the rehabilitation and construction of an infrastructure that allows the arrival of Oasis-type vessels, the largest in the cruise industry, in addition to developing a terminal with the capacity to receive four cruise ships at the same time.
The cruise terminal to be developed in Arroyo Barril would be added to the existing ones Amber Cove and Taino Bay in Puerto Plata, Romana Cruise Terminal in La Romana and Port Cabo Rojo in Pedernales, project that is currently under construction, becoming the five tourist terminals in our country that have infrastructure to receive Oasis-type boats.
In the commissioning of this cruise terminalIt is estimated that the State will receive a net income of USD$1.75 per cruise passenger and USD$0.53 for the monthly lease per square meterused in the project, which in the 33 years of the project will generate US$115.6 million in income for the Dominican State. The port project has an estimated construction period of three years.
