President of Dominican Republic asks Haiti to stop construction of canal in border river

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Dominican President Luis Abinader on Monday called on the Haitian government to stop constructing an irrigation canal on the Masacre River, which has caused controversy between the two countries.

“They must stop these works,” said the president, answering a question from the press on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Palace.

Abinader warned that the Dominican Republic has “many options” from the diplomatic point of view to demand Haiti stop the work, but insisted that he would like “an agreement in that sense”, so he appealed to the good sense of the neighboring country.

The controversy was sparked last May by the construction of an irrigation canal in the border river, near the Haitian city of Ouanaminthe, a matter which had wide repercussions in the Dominican press.

On May 28, the two nations agreed to create a technical round table to improve understanding of the work carried out in the border zone within the framework of the Sub-Commission on Environment and Agriculture of the Bilateral Joint Commission.

In a joint communiqué signed that day, the Dominican Republic acknowledged that the irrigation canal does not imply a diversion of the waters of the Masacre River.

However, after that meeting, the Dominican Government conditioned the dialogue at the technical table to Haiti’s halting the canal works.

Abinader also revealed, last May 29, that he will offer Haitian authorities the construction of a dam on the Artibonito River, which originates in the Dominican Republic and flows into the border nation.

The Treaty of Peace, Perpetual Friendship and Arbitration, signed on February 20, 1929, between the Dominican Republic and Haiti governments, established the right of both countries to use the waters of the rivers in the border area fairly and equitably.

To defend the canal’s construction, the Government of Haiti stated that it is the first work that Haiti is carrying out on this river. At the same time, the Dominican Republic has several canals and a reservoir.