In addition to addressing the Duquesa garbage dump, the agreement signed yesterday between various government institutions and six municipal officials also entails a step forward for the opening of the Joaquin Balaguer International Airport (formerly named the Higuero and Isabela airports). The agreement establishes that once the landfill has been completed, the Herrera terminal operations are to be relocated to the new airport. Balaguer International has not yet opened because US aviation authorities have not given clearance for airplanes to land there, based primarily on the threat to air traffic caused by hundreds of birds drawn to the area by the refuse site and the La Isabela River area.
The Ministry of Public Works reached an agreement with the group of engineers to whom the Fernandez administration awarded the Herrera Airport grounds during its first administration in exchange for a debt for work on the Duarte Highway. These engineers have committed themselves to perform the work of covering up the garbage in Duquesa with limestone.
For his part, the director of the Airports Department, Norge Botello, said his role is to negotiate with Aerodom for the fair treatment for the aviation companies that must relocate to the new facilities, who had complained of high charges from Aerodom, the airport operator, especially compared to the contracts they held with the government-run Herrera International.