In a follow up on the impasse between Haiti and the Dominican Republic due to the diverting of the waters of the Dajabon river when it enters Haiti, an increase in soldiers from the Protected Areas Surveillance Brigade (BSAP) and the construction of trenches in the canal construction area of the border is reported.
These soldiers join the armed soldiers from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (Cesfront) assigned to border patrols.
Dominican soldiers are conducting surveillance services next to sandbag trenches. “Yes, we have those bags here in case they come to attack us. If they throw gas, we’re going to throw gas at them, too; that’s what we’re preparing for,” a BSAP agent has said.
Meanwhile, due to the tension and uncertainty that the canal’s construction has generated, hundreds of Haitians continue to arrive to the border province of Dajabón to return to Haiti. Despite the shutdown of the border, Cesfront agents allow them to pass through the gate crossing in the morning hours.
This border crossing was closed on 15 September 2023 after Haitians resumed construction of a water canal that would diver the waters of Dajabon/Masacre River on the border, despite official protests from the Dominican government. Since 2018, when work began on the canal, Dominican authorities have protested the ongoing construction in the Ouanaminthe area of Haiti on the border with Dajabon.
The construction led the government of President Luis Abinader to take the drastic decision of closing the land, sea and air border until work on the canal is stopped. Haiti’s head of government, Ariel Henry and the gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier have backed the construction.
Listin Diario reports that in August 2018, Haiti began the construction of an irrigation system to be fed by waters of the Masacre River with the double objective of controlling its floods and irrigating more than 3,000 hectares of land in the Maribaroux plain. The Cuban company DINVAI has been carrying out the construction of the project since June 2019. The technical characteristics of the work include 2.6 kilometers of canal that will be connected to a restored old colonial canal, the Trop Plein.
Local environmentalists say if there are heavy rains, the canal construction would cause major flooding of farmlands in Haiti, damaging farms.
The Dominican government is working on works on the Dominican side in La Vigia for 1.5 km that would mitigate the damages the diverting of the waters would cause to Dominican agriculture. As reported, once these works are completed, the border with Haiti could be reopened.
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N Digital
26 September 2023