Al Pais politician Guillermo Moreno warns in an op-ed that the potential damage to the province of San Juan de la Maguana by mining needs to be seen in the context of the importance of the province for local food security.
Moreno says that 14% of the country’s farmland (approximately 2,880,000 tareas at 629 square meters per tarea) is located in the province of San Juan de la Maguana. He said the province produces 50% of the beans consumed in the country and 70% of the seeds for the growing of beans and 11% of rice production. San Juan is also a major producer of sweet potatoes, pigeon peas, onions, cassava, tomato, squash, mango, avocados and lemons.
He said that nevertheless the province is very poor because of the absence of adequate public policies. He said that farmers are trapped by the many levels of commercialization whereby they are forced to sell their farm goods almost at cost and these items are sold in supermarkets at markups ranging from 200 to 300%. He also criticized the unfair competition from importers with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Agriculture that issues illegal import permits. He also mentioned the scarcity of water in the province.
Moreno said there are two dams in the region: Sabana Yegua (that is composed by Azua Barahona, and Neyba) and Sabaneta. Sabaneta is at 740 meters above sea level and irrigates the farmland of San Juan that, at 400-450 meters above sea level.
He points out that the Goldquest Hondo Valle gold discovery is at 50 or 60 meters below the surface in the area of the confluence of the Guama and San Juan rivers that feed the Sabaneta Dam. He said the mine will cause mayor damages because the proposed mining operation would be between 800 and 900 meters above sea level. Moreno said that mining above the Sabaneta Dam rain waters will discharge sediment into the Sabaneta dam aggravating the diminishing waters that feed the dam and that are used for farming.
He observes the Academy of Sciences has recommended the government deny permission for the mining operation and established that metallic mining cannot be allowed above 500 meters without causing serious damage to water production and the environment.
Moreno writes that the most serious situation is that the Hondo Valle mine is just one of 16 other mining concessions the Ministry of Energy and Mines has granted to the company in the San Juan Valley. He says the exploration ranges from Padre Las Casas to Dajabon.
“We are at risk of the Central Cordillera being devastated and with it the main source of water production in the country. If allowed, the Republic will be a wasteland, “barren of wildlife and depopulated,” he alerted.
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Diario Libre
20 February 2018
