The National Federation of Dominican Transporters (FENATRADO) yesterday paralyzed the Port of East Haina by blocking its solitary entrance/exit with their trucks for seven hours. The protest was held from 6:00 am until 1:00 pm, the principal working hours of the port. The event was part of a FENATRADO campaign to get the government to pay Dominican truckers the RD$127 million it owes them and to undertake a series of projects that would make Dominican transport more bearable. Dominican Port Authority (APD) Director Norge Botello Fern?ndez told reporters yesterday that the biggest problem the Port of Haina has with the FENATRADO is lack of communication, which they would remedy immediately. He said most of the Federation’s demands with regard to Haina could be quickly met. The one exception is the "sensible" demand that a separate entrance to the port be constructed – that would first require time for proper studies and planning, he said. The Port of East Haina has a single entrance/exit, and two of the four lanes of the connecting driveway are usually occupied by parked vehicles. Maneuvering by trucks in the zone is difficult at best.Today FENATRADO plans a protest around the National Palace consisting of pickets and honking vehicles. On Friday it will conduct a transport strike in southern provinces to bring attention to its demands for infrastructure improvements there.
