Will the owner(s) of the Lope de Vega glass tower please stand up?

[Chirimoya]

This story in Friday's DR1 news prompted me to ask this question.

Government takes over Las Americas parador
Bienes Nacionales, the government department that oversees state property, has assumed ownership of the Parador Mar de las Americas, the multi-million road-stop built during the Mejia administration. Its construction met with heavy opposition that criticized the takeover of public land and the unlikelihood of highway users stopping there to purchase goods. The Bienes Nacionales press spokesman, Miguel Ortega, told the Listin Diario they do not have precise information on who the owner of the road-stop is. To the best of their understanding, he said, the project was managed by the Supervisory Office of Government Works, as currently headed by Senator, Hernani Salazar of the Duarte province. Diario Libre highlights that no owner has come forward to claim the mega-investment that was made smack in the middle of Las Americas Highway. The parador, whose construction began shortly after Mejia took office, has never been operational, with the exception of an Isla gas station, whose sales appear to be minimal. For years, those driving on Las Americas on the way to the airport wondered how anyone could have thought people would make a detour to visit the parador. Now that these suspicions have been proven true and the parador has become a white elephant, no one has stepped up to claim ownership and Dominican taxpayers have footed the bill. Aristipo Vidal, the director of Bienes Nacionales, says an investigation is being conducted to ascertain if the roadside facility was built with government money.

The new gleaming high-rise office building in the capital's Lope de Vega Avenue was going to be the head offices of the ill-fated Baninter, so it is said. Once the scandal hit the fan one would have expected the construction to come to a halt, but the building work continued and the tower was eventually completed, but is standing empty. There are no signs or names on it to indicate what it is and who it belongs to. There were rumours several months ago that it had been confiscated and handed over to a prominent and controversial member of the previous administration.

Has any more been said about this? Does anyone know who the buildling - which dominates the SD skyline - belongs to and what it is going to be used for?

In the absence of definite answers, maybe we could come up with some suggestions for its use?

Are there any other 'white elephant' projects started during the last government, like the Las Americas parador, that have been 'unclaimed' by their mystery owners?

[Hillbilly]

For processing all of those card carrying party members that want good paying government jobs that they don't really have to turn up for....

Or for the ABA-the Dominican Banking Association to have for its new headquarters.

Or for Elena Viyella de Paliza to store all her money, or for

Morales Troncoso to put all of thie skeletons in his closet, you know, thinkgs like honesty, ethics and loyalty???

Or for the Antuns to put all of their "Hard earned" money, like when they bankrupted the gold mine or ran the Lottery...stuff like that.

Or for all the Dom-Yorks to get together to process their white gold????

Or for housing all of the 6000 graduates of the US prison system as a halfway house.

Or as a giant letrine for the poor of Santo Domingo??

Or for a demonstration as to the efficiency of TNT on Concrete structures...

Or to house all of the Under-secretaries of the different ministries that are only allowed to have two or four under secretaries but have placed like ten or twelve to satisfy party pressures....
OR--a stroke of genius here folks--it can be used to house the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of the Environment.....


HB, pant, paant pant

Or possibly, as the World Headquarters for DR1.com posters....

[pas]

okay ..okay

i will take the blame

it is mine

[Sanson]

That building is being sold by the Central Bank.

[Chirimoya]

Funny, I haven't noticed the For Sale signs. They must be really small.

[bochinche]

my mate, guido.............prominent? controversial? he really isn't a bad person, etc., etc.

....i could probably get a hefty commission, that is if you are interested and you'd like to buy a floor or four.

[Chirimoya]

It still doesn't all add up. When Baninter went bust and the government took over its assets, was it the government footing the bill for the remaining construction work? Is the government (or the Central Bank) paying for the maintenance and upkeep until it is sold? When I went past today I noticed that it is pristine, there is security and someone is watering the plants!

That said, where do I make my offers?

[samiam]

I hear its going to be the new national PLD headquarters.

[Mirador]

The Central Bank has been trying to sell it for some time. I heard they have a serious offer for US$ 50 million. So, it's going, going, gone, to the highest bidder.

Mirador