Dominican Republic - Haiti Observer Blog

The Dominican Republic officials received a proposal from the Haitian officials that the markets which appear on the Haiti-Dominican border twice every week be cut down to once a week. This information was revealed by Luis Rodriguez on Tuesday July 2, 2013. Luis Rodriguez is the Agriculture Minister of Dominican Republic. The Haiti-Dominican border markets show up on Monday and Friday every week.

The Dominican government on the other had responded by stating that it does not want to trim down the trade relations between the two countries and hence, it will remain the way it is. Luis Rodriguez stated from National Palace that the Haitian government wants to cut the trades to once a week probably because they want to reduce non-payment of taxes.

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Dominican Republic (DR) political extremist and radio talk-show host, Alvaro Arvelo, is outraged by the government of Haiti's (GOH) ban on chicken and egg products coming from the DR. The reason behind the ban is rumors have been circulating in GOH circles a bird-flu virus might have contaminated the fowl and its eggs.

Arvelo has personalized the issue, saying "Haitians are ungrateful; they hate the Dominicans." He hosts a political commentary program, "The Government of the Morning". On this occasion, Haiti was the target of his wrath. He is so incensed over this perceived slight of the GOH towards the DR; he demanded President Danilo Medina mount a military campaign and invade Haiti as soon as possible.

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Dominican Republic and Haiti are located on the same island which has a long and troubled history. For centuries people in the two countries have shared common history and shared their cultures but now, the borders of the two countries are all heated up because of chickens! On 6th of June Haiti refused to import agricultural products from Dominican Republic. This event coincided with the DR's deportation of immigrants from Haiti on a large scale.

On either sides of the border the protests have increased to significant scale as a result of which, the foreign ministers of both Dominican Republic and Haiti have failed to reach an agreement. Activities of product and people crossing borders have completed stopped in two borders out of total four shared by the two countries. Even binational markets that used to operate daily have completely stopped operations.

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Coming out of the recent ban on all poultry products from the Dominican Republic, the Veterinary Services of Haiti and its nearest neighbor met in a technical meeting held on June 19, 2012 to discuss the issues and come up with feasible solutions.

The results were that the ban on poultry would be lifted, allowing the critical trade from the Dominican Republic to continue, under certain restrictions. First, a committee of experts from the two countries, aided by outside organizations, will convene to create a protocol in regards to the treatment of the trade in light of the avian flu, which had been the cause of the ban initially.

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Dominican Media reported that the Haitian President Michel Martelly admitted that he lied over poultry products from the Dominican Republic.

According to Dominicantoday.com, Dominican President President Danilo Medina, during a meeting held on Sunday(6/30/13) with Michell Martelly and Haiti Foreign minister Pierre-Richard Casimir, the Haitian leader admitted that poultry products from the Dominican Republic are of good quality and that the Haitian ban was strictly economic.

The meeting was held during the summit of the Petrocaribe member nations in Nicaragua where the Haitian Government said that his country loses around $300 million in unpaid tax revenue due to chicken and eggs import from the Dominican Republic

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The Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry recently announced a ban on all poultry related items from Haiti's neighboring country the Dominican Republic after government officials in Santo Domingo confirmed the reports of an outbreak of Bird Flu in the country.

The threat of the deadly avian flu has caused a ban on all animal, meat and egg products from the Dominican Republic. The government, in an official statement, has also informed importers, resellers and consumers of the products which are potential carriers of the flu that the ban was of immediate effect and would remain in effect until further notice.

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The governments of Haiti (GOH) and Dominican Republic (DR) have partnered for the "Re-greening DR-Haiti" reforestation movement. The campaign kicked off at World Environment Day in North East Department, Ouanaminthe. Presidents Martelly of GOH and Danilo Medina of DR planted seeds to demonstrate their intent to reach a tree canopy of 27% by 2020. Currently, green coverage amounts to only 2% of Hispaniola Island. The GOH and DR want to increase it to 4% by 2017.

Martelly noted "the last national afforestation campaign dates back to 1980 . . ." He said in over three decades no attempt has been made to reforest Hispaniola. But he reported 400,000-plus seed plantings have occurred in several departments throughout Haiti in the last six weeks. Danilo Medina also reported 6 million-plus seed plantings have occurred in DR.

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According to Haiti Press Network, Dominican President Danilo Medina said this week that he would take "drastic measures" to resolve the issue of the ban on Dominican chickens and eggs by the Haitian government. He added that there are no valid reason for the ban noting that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has supported their claim that there was no bird flu in the Dominican Republic.

Danilo Medina denounced the special interests behind the actions taken by Haiti and concluded that they need to find solutions to not depend on the Haitian market."

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Following the warning from the Ministry of Public Health and Population in the Dominican Republic regarding the reappearance of avian flu (H1N1 virus) in their country, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Haiti took its own precaution to protect the Haitian population.

Effective immediately, the Haitians government has instituted a ban. Importers and retailers of meat products, particularly poultry, eggs and live animals potentially infected or carriers of the Avian Flu from the Dominican Republic are prohibited from carrying these products until further order.

Can Haiti afford to be affected by Avian Flu? As we are currently dealing with the Cholera epidemic inherited from the Nepalese contingent of UN peacekeeping MINUSTAH, Haiti is faced with a new health threat.

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A Brazilian Air Force plane crashes at Toussaint Louverture International airport in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, May 26, 2013. The airplane involved in the accident is marked Força Aérea Brasileira and is part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

Boeing B707 was carrying the fifth rotation of the 17th Brazilian contingent.

According to Haitian authorities, the Brazilian military plane Força Aérea Brasileira veered onto the grass next to the runway after one engine caught fire as the aircraft was taking off. As the engine was caught on fire, the landing gear became disabled. Fire crews were able to put out the fire.

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