Mayor of Santiago Abel Martínez says that the municipality is affected by the effective takeover of public spaces by large numbers of undocumented Haitians and that the situation is of concern to his administration. The mayor estimated that over two million the undocumented Haitians are residing in the country.
In a press release, he also expressed concern about the large numbers of Haitian women who come to the Dominican Republic to give birth motivated apparently by free health services available at public hospitals. He says these patients occupy beds that could be used by Dominicans in public hospitals. He said no one can give him an answer to how so many women come to give birth, those that stay and those that return. He criticized the increasing share of the Dominican public health budget that is spent on the Haitian population.
The mayor’s complaint coincided with a cartoon published by El Dia where it shows a lock on a single door at the border and the overflowing of immigrants from all around the door.
The mayor is recognized for his efforts for efficient garbage collection and elimination of visual contamination in the city. The Martínez city government has also tackled illegal occupancy of city streets and public spaces by vendors.
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Hoy
El Dia
Diario Libre
15 November 2018
