Santo Domingo.– It's the talk of the town before May 16 elections: the Caribbean's first subway system. Supporters call the soon-to-open metro a sign of progress and national pride, while critics call it an extravagance for a poor country, reports the Sun Sentinel, a newspaper with headquarters in Florida, United States.

President Leonel Fernandez, a lawyer raised in New York City and seeking his third term, champions the subway as the centerpiece of his modernization push for a nation of 9.2 million people, highlights the report.

He calls the metro vital to ease congestion in the often chaotic capital, already 2 million people and growing, it reads. "Step Up to Progress," proclaims a metro ad on radio, which ends with a Hallelujah-style chorus.  

Jhonathan de los Santos, who sells pineapple and other fruits on a downtown street, can hardly wait for a full-scale launch. The 20-year-old now spends up to three hours on several crowded buses to get from work to his Villa Mella neighborhood on the edge of the capital. With the new subway and connecting buses, the weekday trip should shrink to just one hour.

"And it will cost me about the same," said de los Santos, who rushed to ride the subway at a recent public preview. "I'm voting for Leonel (Fernandez) because of the metro."

According to the Sun Sentinel, Fernandez is expected to handily win re-election, citing his administration's investment in the subway, roads and computers in schools, plus its luring of record levels of foreign investment to hotels, golf courses, farms and factories. The Dominican economy is humming, growing nearly 10 percent a year since he took office in 2004 after a four-year absence.

His campaign, the paper says, benefits too from the dismal performance of the main opposition party in office between Fernandez's terms. He inherited a country reeling from a banking crisis, deeply in debt, and its currency worth only about half of today's value.

"After the last government practically destroyed the country, how can this one justify spending so much money on a project that will benefit relatively few in one section of the capital?," asked mechanic Alejandro de Jesus, 34, who drives to work in downtown Santo Domingo from a nearby city off the metro route. "As far as I'm concerned, they're all a bunch of thieves in government."

Many critics wonder why Fernandez did not seek cheaper alternatives, such as overpasses on roads, or business-linked options, like private concessions for bus routes. They worry the government won't properly maintain the metro, which needs air-conditioning year-round to keep out the tropical heat and features its own electric plant. The country has suffered serious electricity shortages for decades.

Moreover, they expect massive subsidies will be needed to keep fares low –less than the equivalent of 70 cents a ride, the paper mentions.

Lucia Gonzalez, who sells paintings and amber jewelry at a crafts market, calls the hefty outlays a sign of misplaced priorities. "We need to attend to other pressing needs first," said Gonzalez, 33, recalling a recent visit to the southwestern town of Azua still recovering from the ravages of Tropical Storm Noel last year. "This is a whim of the president."

The Fernandez administration has been aiming to open the first nine-mile, 16-station segment of the subway system before May 16 elections. It is giving away free rides for two weeks to those attending the Santo Domingo Book Fair, a top cultural event.