Presidential Minister Gustavo Montalvo, who recently headed a meeting of the Presidential Commission on the Cleanup and Sustainable Use of the Ozama and Isabela Watersheds, reported that there have been important advances in the recovery of these two rivers. He noted that they have received new proposals to insure the healthy recovery of the watersheds.
Montalvo announced that the Interceptor 004, a boat donated by the NGO “Ocean Cleanup” headquartered in the United Kingdom, will be arriving shortly. He said that this is one of four ships in the world fitted with the latest technology for cleaning up plastics in rivers. The ship will be located in the Ozama to ensure plastics do not enter the Caribbean Sea. The Dominican Navy is overseeing the operation.
At the same time, there are on-going efforts to ease the flow of water along the river course with the removal of the water lilies that clog the stream. Minister Montalvo said backhoes, front loaders and trucks will be initially used to clean up the riverbanks. In the coming months the government will be acquiring a new dredge along with special equipment to eliminate the aquatic vegetation from the river.
Montalvo also spoke about the reforestation activities taking place in the upper reaches of the watershed, with nearly 3,000,000 trees of different varieties planted over the past four years.
Another step forward will be the operation of the La Zurza water treatment facility set to go into operation during the first quarter of this year. In areas adjacent to the main streams, the Minister said that nearly 7% of the creeks and streams that feed the two rivers have been cleaned up. According to the Ministry of the Environment, about half of the companies that are located along the riverbanks are already installing water treatment plants to further reduce contamination.
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El Nacional
22 January 2020