Dominican Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Alvarez was quite clear last week when he was questioned by several committees from the Chamber of Deputies regarding possible talks with Haitian authorities about smoothing relations. He told the journalists that any talks depended on the immediate suspension of all work on the irrigation canal under construction on the west bank of the Dajabon/Masacre River.
According to Alvarez, the canal project poses threats to the ecology and the area that it is supposed to serve.
The minister noted that from the start of the construction of the canal, Dominican authorities have requested, and demanded, that construction be halted.
The Dominican authorities stress the project violates the 1929 border treaty. Furthermore, studies by Dominican technicians indicate that the canal is a potential threat to both countries in times of flooding.
Minister Alvarez also noted that the Dominican Republic has experience in the management of flood plains and could provide feasible alternatives in terms of ecology and technical aspects.
President Abinader shut down all cross-border commerce in September 2023. Access to the bi-national markets was authorized again in November, but Haitian authorities have not allowed their citizens to access the markets. The Haitians demand the elimination of the new biometric identification requirement.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
4 December 2023