A 17-person Dominican government mission traveled to Haiti to discuss joint development projects along the Haiti-DR frontier on 24 and 25 January. The meetings are taking place at El Rancho Hotel in Petionville, Port au Prince. The Dominican delegation met with President Rene Preval for an hour. Projects that are being discussed that already have European Union funding are one for the control and eradication of classic porcine fever, a major transport project calling for the repair of the Masacre River bridge, the highway around Dajabón, the Dajabón-Cap Haitien highway and improvements at Manzanillo port in the DR. The DR mission that is head by Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temístocles Montás and the Haiti mission head by Planning Minister Anthony Dessources also discussed presenting together projects worth US$200 million to the Inter American Development Bank and the World Bank. Among these projects that would have the joint support of the DR and Haitian governments are projects for the installation of electricity to benefit 10,000 homes in the Juana Méndez border area, another to eradicate sicknesses transmitted by mosquitoes, a program for sexual and reproductive health, installation of a frontier telephone system, improvements at the customs house facilities, among others.
