The Dominican Banana Producers Association (Adobanano) has called for special measures to provide residency permits for 14,000 Haitian workers currently employed in the sector. Adobanano leaders Martín Peña and Gil Blas visited Listin Diario to explain that of their total work force of 22,000, some 14,000 are Haitians and 8,000 Dominicans. The hiring violates the law that establishes 80% Dominican and 20% foreign for any company.
Peña clarified: “We do not need more workers; we can manage with our current workforce of 22,000.”
He stressed the necessity of obtaining temporary permits for these workers, many of whom have expired documentation.
In the past, the Dominican Republic has issued temporary permits to give time for the foreigners to get documentation from Haiti to complete the procedure. But the Haitian government has not come through. Thus, thousands of workers who had been issued the temporary permits are now undocumented again.
The banana sector spokespeople say that the workers are registered with the Social Security Treasury (TSS). The question is: How are undocumented workers able to be registered with the TSS? It is possible the registrations were to those who had received the temporary permits from the Migration Agency.
Adobanano supports the government’s deportation efforts against undocumented workers but noted that the uncertainty caused by these actions poses significant risks to their operations. Peña stated that when two to five workers are detained or deported, it disrupts supply chains and can lead to economic losses due to contractual obligations with clients.
“We are fully in favor of deporting all undocumented individuals, but the lack of updated permits for many of our workers creates instability,” Peña explained. He highlighted the importance of the banana industry, which exports year-round and plays a vital role in the economy.
Blas noted that Adobanano has long championed the issue of labor regularization, having taken on the associated costs during previous efforts. He stressed that their organization is fully compliant with labor laws and aims to promote the “Dominicanization” of the workforce.
Currently, Adobanano exports about 316 freight containers of bananas weekly, equating to approximately 2,803 tons per month, with over 90% of exports going to European markets. The leaders highlighted the increasing importance of bananas in the national export landscape, surpassing traditional products like sugar and cacao in recent years.
However, they also raised concerns about rising production costs and climate change, which have negatively impacted banana quality. Peña pointed out that recent temperature spikes, including a record 42.4 degrees Celsius in northwestern Mao, Valverde, have stressed the plants and contributed to pest outbreaks, further complicating production efforts.
“The banana requires an average temperature of around 34 degrees Celsius. When conditions exceed this, it affects the quality of our exports, which must arrive in Europe within 10 to 12 days,” he remarked in the interview.
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Listin Diario
3 October 2024