According to a press release from the Labor Ministry, inspectors in the northeastern province of Nagua have found 74 underage boys between the ages of seven and 17 who are working in rice fields in the area, a violation of the Dominican Republic Labor Code.
It was impossible to get information about all of the children as several ran away when they saw the inspectors, so only 43 cases of employing minors could be made against the rice field owners. The local representative for the Labor Ministry in Nagua, Emeteria Abreu, said that in some cases both the farmers and their employees were repeat offenders in contracting minors to do the work. They had been warned in the past, but no legal action had been taken to stop them doing it again.
www.hoy.com.do/provincias/2013/2/5/465757/A-pesar-de-que-es-prohibidodetectan-a-74-menores-trabajando-en-parcelas