Decision 40 COM 7B.4

Colonial City of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) (C 526)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.42, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. While recognizing that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-financed Tourism Development Project constitutes a great opportunity for the preservation of the property under the condition that it is executed according to national legislation and regulations and internationally accepted norms and standards, notes with regret and very serious concern that no adequate mechanisms have been established for the coordination and cooperation among the institutions responsible for the protection of the property (the National Directorate for Monumental Heritage (DNPM) and the Municipality of Santo Domingo) on the one hand, and the Tourism Development Project implemented by the Ministry of Tourism on the other hand;
4. Recommends the State Party to address this issue as a matter of urgency and take the necessary measures to ensure that the DNPM has the technical, financial and institutional capacity to fulfill its legal obligations and that other institutions act according to established legal and institutional frameworks;
5. Deploring the collapse of part of the XVIth century Hotel Frances, urges the State Party to clearly establish its causes and do the necessary to prevent that infrastructural works affect the heritage values of buildings and structures, and requests the State Party to report on the final results of the investigations and measures taken to prevent similar events in the future;
6. Strongly recommends that the State Party review the objectives and parameters of the proposed convention centre in the ruins and gardens of the Convent of San Francisco, to undertake a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and establish the carrying capacity of the Colonial City and its components in order to determine the convenience of such a convention centre and other major facilities in the historical centre;
7. Commends the State Party for the progress made in the definition of a buffer zone east of the property and also requests it to submit the buffer zone as a minor boundary modification in accordance with paragraphs 163-164 of the Operational Guidelines as soon as possible;
8. Welcomes that in the buffer zone on the east side of the property no constructions of the Sansouci project are foreseen and further requests that urban and architectural designs be submitted to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies as soon as they become available;
9. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.