The Haitian frontier is seen as the portal for a massive, illegal immigration and as one of the most important business opportunities available today. So says the Diario Libre today as it launches a series of reports about the frontier. Haiti is the second largest receptor of Dominican exports, after the US, and is a better customer, since it buys everything available without demanding minimum quality levels. In the town of Dajabon, on market days, some 30,000 to 70,000 Haitians cross the frontier to do business.
At 7:45 in the morning, on market day, there are dozens of trucks and pickups loaded with different types of merchandise, all kinds of produce, building supplies, plastic goods and even scrap newspapers. On the other side of the border, men, women and children, as far as the eye can see, are preparing to cross the Massacre River.
According to Sonia Mateo, the governor of Dajabon province, businesses from Santiago, La Vega, Moca and Samana do more business in the town on market days in Dajabon than they do in rest of the Dominican Republic. The numbers are impressive: 15 trucks laden with tayota (chayote); 10 trucks with plantains; between 800,000 and one million eggs, and thousands of coconuts from Samana. In the city of Dajabon there are several ice factories selling exclusively to Haiti. Personal hygiene products produced in La Vega, sausages made in Santiago and cleaning products made in La Herradura, Santiago and sold during market days are the major sources of income for these businesses.