Wednesday, January 29 in Hotel Viva Tangerine in Cabarete a meeting was held for which all significant instances of Sosúa and Cabarete were invited.
Among others there were the commanders of the traffic police,
Safety in Sosúa and Cabarete
national police, the air base, and the tourist police present.
In addition, the mayor and vice - mayor of Sosúa, Ilana Neumann and Willy Olivences and the president of the Association of Hotels owners were present.
On behalf of the local entrepreneurs Juan Perdomo and Alberto Hidalgo were present.
The residents' association, Rotary Club, the association of beach entrepreneurs and taxi operators were also represented.
The meeting took place at the initiative of the brigadier general of CESTUR, Amílcar Fernández Tejada.
We speak of CESTUR because the tourist police (POLITUR) has recently changed its name in CESTUR (Cuerpo de Seguridad Especializado Turística).
The following action items were discussed:
1: The officers of CESTUR, so formerly POLITUR are sent regularly to a refresher training from now on.
Newly appointed officers have to speak at least two languages, preferably (besides Spanish), English or German.
2: The salaries of the officers shall be raised at least 37% to more than 10,000 pesos per month.
According to attendees this is still far too little.
A normal household needs at least 30,000 pesos per month.
Too low salaries encourage corruption.
There was even the suggestion that local entrepreneurs would pay a share to increase the salaries of the officers to an acceptable level.
3: There will now be better cooperated with all involved (police, government, business).
4: There will be more patrols by the police, also in remote locations that are poorly lit.
5: There will be a permanent patrol service on the roads (a combination of roadside and police) that can be invoked in emergencies for help.
6: There will be acted more fierce against noise, speeding motorbikes and drug abuse.
7: The municipal government will do better in refuse collection and filling up potholes in the roads.
Amílcar Fernández Tejada (the brigadier general of CESTUR) said that prostitution is not the problem of Sosúa and Cabarete.
Prostitution is the oldest profession in the world and is practiced in every city all over the world.
It is a matter of how to control it.
It must stay out of the hands of people traffickers, thieves and drug mafia.
For Sosúa and Cabarete a tolerance zone far from the center is an option.
In a forthcoming meeting, the implementation and progress of all these policy proposals will be discussed.
Source of information: Alberto Hidalgo (owner Restaurant Tipico Alberto)
