The president of the Border Development Foundation (Fudefro), Juan Vicini has highlighted the importance of the country continuing to work for increased farming, fishing and forestry production on the border with Haiti to consolidate a true corridor of commercial nuclei that guarantee security, education and a decent life for Dominican families in the region. Businessman Vicini toured the area with the Minister of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Sigfrido Pared Perez, Taiwanese Ambassador Tomas Ping Fu Hou, engineer Manuel Estrella, the director of the department for Promotion of Border Communities, Brigade General Rafael de Luna Pichirilo and other business sector members of the foundation. In addition to the model Macasias unit, other units due to enter into operation are Guaroa and Los Cacaos, with contributions from the government of Taiwan. <\/p>\n
Vicini said that the Macasias project has several rabbit, goat, fish and chicken breeding farms in operation, as well as nurseries for food and forestry production. The project is making progress in the cultivation of mangos, avocadoes, tamarind and other fruits. <\/p>\n
Vicini said that the projects operate as a security ring where people can feel confident to make investments and develop future businesses. <\/p>\n
“We cannot move the border and it has political and military connotations due to national security, but by creating sustainable business components, settlers in the area will remain and even some who have gone may return,” stated Vicini. He said the goal is to establish a corridor of these centers along the 400km length of the border to help maintain territorial integrity and prevent Dominicans from leaving. He said 18 settlements could be set up along the 400kms at an average distance of 20kms from each other. They would be interconnected for commerce and would have the military coordination the country needs. “The idea is to locate them where there is a larger Haitian population to promote trade, because this is the greatest asset the area has,” he said. <\/p>\n
Vicini said that many people think that a cosmopolitan zone on the border can affect the territoriality and promote trans-culturization but the reality is that it favors trade. “If you go to a city like Dajabon where there is a large border market you will see there are more hotels there than in other cities of the same size,” he said. <\/p>\n
He made the point that this kind of project would prevent the emergence of conflicts that can be violent and that “in view of that need we have offered our support,” said Vicini explaining that it was the former legal advisor to President Leonel Fernandez, lawyer Abel Rodriguez del Orbe who proposed him as president of the Foundation. <\/p>\n
The settlements in Dominican territory had been deserted by their inhabitants, giving way to hundreds of Haitians who have settled near the border in search of a better life, taking the place of Dominicans who leave rural areas to move to the cities. <\/p>\n
“The only way one can keep the right to something is by taking care of it and giving it value because things that are abandoned are lost,” said Vicini, as reported in Listin Diario. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The president of the Border Development Foundation (Fudefro), Juan Vicini has highlighted the importance of the country continuing to work for increased farming, fishing and forestry production on the border with Haiti to consolidate a true corridor of commercial nuclei that guarantee security, education and a decent life for Dominican families in the region. Businessman … <\/p>\n