Dajabón (Dominican R.), May 10 (EFE) .- In the crowded corridors of the Dominican market of Dajabón, vitally important for the supply of food to the north of Haiti, the plans of the Dominican Government to raise a fence on the dividing line between the two countries.
These plans, announced by President Luis Abinader, collide with the vision of commercial opening that is intended to be promoted by the communities that live on either side of the main border crossing, where more development plans and fewer gates are requested.
The construction of the fence will begin in the second half of this year and for now the authorities have only clarified that the fence will not cover the entire 380 kilometers of the dividing line, but only the areas where today it is more difficult to control irregular immigration.
The president of the Dajabón Merchants Federation, Freddy Morillo, attends Efe on the bridge that connects his city with the Haitian city of Ouanaminthe, also known as Juana Méndez, and values that “commerce is what keeps the border”.
“What is required at the border is a wall, but it is a wall of factories, it is a wall of free zones, it is a wall to generate employment, a wall that takes into account the survival of both peoples,” says Morillo.
The mayor of Dajabón, Santiago Riverón, expresses himself in the same terms. “I have always advocated for a wall, but a wall of companies in the border towns,” sums up the councilman, sitting in his office, dressed in a chacabana, the Dominican guayabera, and with a wide-brimmed hat.
He gives as an example the Codevi, an industrial park built by Dominican businessmen in Haiti, which has contributed decisively to the development of Ouanaminthe, a city that now has 170,000 inhabitants, five times the population of Dajabón.
A CASE OF SUCCESS
In the 28 Codevi industrial warehouses the activity does not stop. More than 14,000 uniformed Haitians sew clothes non-stop, in an organized work environment that contrasts with the uproar and chaos that reigns in the streets of Ouanaminthe.
In the twelve factories of the industrial park, textiles are mainly assembled, but there is room for the implantation of companies of medical equipment, solar panels or electrical appliances, sectors that can export duty-free to the United States thanks to the Hope and Help trade agreement.
The commercial manager of Codevi, Aníbal Capellán, explained that Haiti offers a “tremendous opportunity” for companies that want to benefit from “nearshoring”, the commercial practice promoted by the United States with the aim of looking for suppliers in countries close to its coasts.
The industrial park is preparing an expansion of its facilities and envisions that it will be able to double the number of workers in a few years, which will also have an impact in the Dominican Republic, due to the generation of indirect jobs and the increase in trade.
DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Parallel to the fence project, the Dominican Government has launched several development plans for the border, the main one being the 30-year renewal of the tax incentives law granted to companies that establish themselves in the region.
This law has now been in force for 20 years and, although it has contributed to the establishment of nearly 80 companies in the area, it has not met the expectations of job creation and has practically failed to attract investment to the southwest area, the poorest from the country.
In that region, one of President Abinader’s star projects is beginning to be developed, the construction of a hotel complex near Pedernales, which will generate 14,000 direct jobs in an area hitherto untouched for tourism.
A NEW MARKET
In the north, traders are eagerly awaiting the opening of a new market that will open in Ouanaminthe in a month or two and will work in a complementary way to that of Dajabón, which may further increase trade between the two countries.
A recent study by the Dominican Central Bank indicates that the commercial flow of these informal markets is greater than previously thought and they move more than 330 million dollars a year, which is equivalent to 7.5% of total Dominican exports.
Manuel Pérez Bella
(c) EFE Agency
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