Mirador West Being Turned into a Venue for Concerts and Sports Events

Environment and Culture Ministries rescue land and designate it for public use through Decree 207-02

The rescue of the area is part of the cooperation agreement between both ministries in their combined effort to save, protect and supports the country’s cultural and natural heritage.

The Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA) and Culture recently undertook a joint rescue project of Mirador West Park in the western bank of the Haina River, a protected and little-known area in the municipality of Western Santo Domingo but with an enormous potential for cultural and Eco-tourism.

The rescue of the area is part of the cooperation agreement between both ministries in their combined effort to save, protect and supports the country’s cultural and natural heritage.

Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, Environment Minister and José Rafael Lantigua, Minister of Culture, headed the effort and worked together to see that their joint environmental and culture organizations develop the potential of the places where the vestiges of cultural and historic areas converge.

Eleuterio Martínez, deputy minister of Protected Areas who pointed out that next year Santo Domingo will be the American Capital of Culture, said “We have to create conditions to take advantage of the great flow of scientific researchers and intellectuals expected to visit the country so that everyone knows that we are award of our history and what it means.”

Lantigua confirmed that soon they will be organizing a concert with the youth symphony orchestra “to take advantage of and underscore the value of this area through art.” Fernández Mirabal added that currently there is a group of young people training in canoeing and rowing in order to utilize the river as a place to practice sports activities that will attract the young people of this area.

Created on March 20, 2002 by Decree 207-02, the Mirador West covers the backwater area of the Haina River between the 6 of November Bridge and the C20 Treatment plants, the Aqueduct and Sewer System Corporation of Santo Domingo (CAASD) with a land surface area of approximately 4.45 Km².

The Park’s Values

The park forms part of the Green Belt and protects the flow of water of the Haina River, conserving wetlands, original old growth forests and special habitats that serve as refuge for migratory water bird and other valuable species and sites such as the historic ruins of the Engombe and Palavé Palaces

The area is an intermediary point in the Slave or the Mills Route, a process to be recognized by UNESCO, as a Heritage for Humanity site, in agreement with Lantigua.

The ancient Engombe Palace is a colonial structure from the 16th Century when the Santa Ana mill was founded. Its name is associated to the African language which calls cattle and oxen “n-gombe.” The complex is made up of a house or palace, a church, a storehouse and a grape or sugarcane mill.

The decree that created the protected area contemplates the building of visitors centers, children’s recreational facilities, ecological paths and/or other necessary infrastructure that will provide recreation and education for visitors as well as the security and control of the natural resources.

The Green Belt of Santo Domingo and the National District is a natural reserve located around the city which possesses valuable natural resources that can be taken advantage of and put to the service of the citizens in the form of water resources, represented in the Haina, Isabela, Ozama, Yabacao, Tosa, Dajao, Cabón and Higüero Rivers, among others.

Office of Communications
July 1, 2009

Eleuterio Martínez making the central speech of the event which was headed by Jaime David Fernández Mirabal and José Rafael Lantigua, in the company of Lourdes Camilo, Nerva Fondeur, among others.