Proyecto Onza Desarrollo Urbanístico e Inmobiliario Business Case

1. GRUPO CANEY Proyecto OnzaDesarrollo Urbanístico e Inmobiliario Business Case

2. The Onza Project is located at the province of Barahona in the Dominican Republic. The Barahona & Pedernales region is the secret paradise of the Dominican Republic. The main reason any tourist goes to Barahona is for the beaches and the sun. But this region is real, and real people live here. You'll find so much more there: more mangos than you can eat, crayon-colored wood houses, tiled city parks, open verandas with rocking chairs, roosters at dawn, caribbean breeze, platano, handpainted advertising on city walls and outside stores, avocado trees, sirens signaling the advent of morning, noon and evening, the azure waters of the Caribbean just beyond the town's horizon... The Enriquillo Lake provides a habitat for flamingos and iguanas and contains the largest reserve in the wild of American crocodiles. Stay quiet and enjoy the ambience. Invest in Onza, a heaven to the tourism and a paradise to live in.

3. General Information: Barahona is a coastal province that begins in Punta Martín García forming the Neiba Bay, where the Yaque del Sur River ends. The provincial capital is Barahona, a large city over the cove with great urban and commercial development that is also the region's harbor. It begins to have important tourist offers, hotels and recently, an international airport. The Barahona coast offers everything from abrupt cliffs to romantic beaches with narrow, sweet water streams, such as Los Patos, which is also a cave filled with pictographs. Geographic Location Nearby provinces: Azua, Bahoruco, Independencia, Pedernales. The Barahona municipality has the following borders: Vicente Noble to the northeast, Paraíso to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east and Cabral-Polo to the west.

4. History Located in the southern part of the country, the city of Santa Cruz de Barahona was founded in 1802. It began as a fishing town on the Yaque del Sur river, the Rincon Lagoon and the Caribbean Sea. The area where it currently stands was originally a source of wood, including oak and mahogany. Production Barahona is a great producer of plantain, famous for their size, which are mostly exported or sold to other cities. It is also a great producer of coffee and sugar. It also produces rice, beans, minor fruits, sweet potato, yucca, banana and "guandules". Most of the land suitable for cultivation is used for sugar cane. In other words, the main economic activity within the municipality is constituted by agricultural labor. The municipality has some 480,000 plots used for land and cattle. Fishing, the activity that founded the city of Santa Cruz de Barahona, continues to be a generating source of wealth. The municipality also has the "Parque Industrial de Zona Franca" (Duty Free Industrial Park), which constitutes an important source of jobs. The economically active population in 1993 was of 21,961 people, of which 68%, or 14,861 were employed and 32% or 7,100 were unemployed. For 1997, the number of public servants was of 6,308 people, of 8,968 that the province had.

5. Tourist Interest Rincón Lagoon (also known as Cabral), located in the Neiba Valley, constitutes the second largest inland body of water and is the largest sweet water body of water in the country. Punta Prieta is located right outside the bay and next to the town of Juan Esteban, with the Saladilla and San Rafael Beaches. Paraíso is the head municipality located at the mouth of the Nazito River, an area where the waters run towards the seas forming ponds and baths of template waters surrounded by wet and thick vegetation. San Rafael, where a crystalline water river meets the Caribbean sea. Quemaditos, its name means suntan, a beautiful beach. Polo, mountain with the nicest weather in the country Enriquillo is the last coastal town in the province.

6. Southwest Region (Barahona) The region's most important attraction is the unique Enriquillo Lake, the largest salt water lake in the Caribbean. Its contracting terrain and climate from the lush green of the surrounding Bahoruco mountain chain to the dry ecosystem of the lake itself makes this area a great retreat for nature enthusiasts. Its beautiful mountains, sulfur and sweet water ponds and wildlife including crocodiles and flamingoes are impressive. A panoramic view of this rugged coastline will lead visitors to Barahona, the region's most important town and one of the latest tourist developments.

7. The weather in Dominican Republic remains tropical year round, with slight variations dividing it into basically two seasons, summer and winter. The average annual temperature is around 25° (77°F). Average Daily Temperature

8. Cool season The so-called "cool" season is from November to April, with what is considered pleasantly warm weather, relatively low humidity and low precipitation. On the coast, i.e. near the beaches, the temperature hovers fairly constantly around 29°C (84°F) during the day and drops to around a comfortable 20°C (68°F) at night. Hot season The more "hot" season is roughly from May to October. Then, the average temperature rises to 31°C (87°F) during the daytime and drops to about 22°C (72°F) at night. However, with the accompanying high humidity that is more common during this season, it usually feels much hotter. It does rain a bit more often during this season, especially from May to August, but usually this turns out to be no more than a 30 minute tropical (sometimes heavy) shower. Differences The differences between the two seasons is not always consistent; sometimes regardless of the season there are periods of weeks without any rain at all, except occasionally during the night. Visitors coming to the Dominican Republic, practically any time of the year can expect to be treated with extended periods of blue sunny skies, ideal weather for getting a nice tan. It should also be mentioned that weather varies a lot from one year to the next, being influenced by phenomena such as "El Niño" and "La Niña" among others. Hurricanes The Caribbean hurricane season lasts from June 1 to November 30. August and September are the months when most hurricanes have hit. The greatest threat to the Dominican Republic comes from hurricanes. The major resorts have become adept at getting back on their feet quickly after a hurricane, as evidenced by the quick rebound from the devastation of Hurricane Georges (1998). Still, if a hurricane hits the country before your trip, you might want to call ahead and make sure your room is still standing...