Jarabacoa rises up against diverting of Yaque del Norte River
Diversion of river would affect tourism, farming and ecology
Diario Libre
JARABACOA. The representative organizations of the city of Jarabacoa, in the province of La Vega, met in an extraordinary session at the Municipal Building, and agreed the begin a plan to fight to project to divert the Yaque River (Yaque del Norte) in order to make way for the construction of the Manabao-Bejucao-Tavera Hydroelectric Dam (Manabao Dam or MBT).
According to the survey that has been done in the area, the diversion of the river will be done from the entrance of Los Dajaos to the Confluencia (confluence)-some six kilometers-and the technicians that will work on the hydroelectric project are already housed in hotels and houses in Jarabacoa.
During the session at the City Hall, the City Council issued a resolution that prohibits the diversion of the river because of the damage that it would cause to tourism, farming, cattle production and the environment of the area. Moreover, it would affect the investments that people have made when they bought properties in a tourist area.
The chairman of the City Council, Olmedo Valdez, warned that diverting the river would convert Jarabacoa into a "ghost town," and with few alternatives for it development; at the same time he noted that at the present time this town is one of the most prosperous cities in the Dominican Republic. It has become the principle tourist pole-in the mountains-and an alternative destination in the country and the Caribbean.
"There are also important agro-businesses working here, the national poultry producers have established large projects here and if the river is diverted, all this will come down," he said.
Environmental problems
Engineer Daniel Jimenez, a member of the environmental team of the Academy of Science, said that if the project with the initials MBT is approved, this would mean, from the technical point of view, that all the water between Los Dajaos and the Confluencia would be diverted.
"The intention is to remove practically all the water from the river in order to put it into a micro riverbed nearby, which would leave Jarabacoa practically without water," he said.
In the person in charge of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health in the province of La Vega, Doctor Norma Rosado, warned that the diversion of the Yaque would cause sicknesses among the population that supple themselves from the river between the start of the diversion all the way to the Tavera Dam. Among these diseases she mentioned malaria, Leptospirosis, dengue and other infectious diseases.
In the session at City Hall, there were also important persons from the business, political and environment sectors and president of neighborhood groups and representatives from the Committee for the Defense of the Yaque del Norte River, which is the largest in the country.
Some years ago, the City Council of Jarabacoa issued Resolution 034-2002 which declared the Yaque del Norte River from the high watershed and below to be the patrimony of the city of Jarabacoa.
Project
In November 2012, the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (Egehid) announced that it was thinking about developing the MBT hydroelectric project which would have a capacity of 104.8 megawatts.
Calling it "a priority project for the country," the EGEHID accepted a suggested presented by the Odebrecht (Brazil) and Impreglio(Italy) companies which was made during the transition period between the administrations of Fernandez and Medina. The suggestion was to reactivate the project with a cost of over RD$2.8 billion.
It was revealed that this infrastructure was conceived during the administration of Salvador Jorge Blanco and in 1987 then President Joaquin Balaguer turned it down because if its high cost and the size of the irreversible environmental and socio-economic impact that the community of Jarabacoa would suffer.
The amount of the contract being handled by Egehid talks about an investment of RD$861 million plus €59 million Euros, plus US$41.3 million from the United States.
Last 30 May 2012 the Egehid administration sent the construction companies letter marked with the number 0166-2012 in which it told them of their decision "to retake the agenda of activities of the project." Diario Libre tried to obtain the opinion of Egehid, but it was not possible.
According to the survey that has been done in the area, the diversion of the river will be done from the entrance of Los Dajaos to the Confluencia (confluence)-some six kilometers-and the technicians that will work on the hydroelectric project are already housed in hotels and houses in Jarabacoa.
During the session at the City Hall, the City Council issued a resolution that prohibits the diversion of the river because of the damage that it would cause to tourism, farming, cattle production and the environment of the area. Moreover, it would affect the investments that people have made when they bought properties in a tourist area.
The chairman of the City Council, Olmedo Valdez, warned that diverting the river would convert Jarabacoa into a "ghost town," and with few alternatives for it development; at the same time he noted that at the present time this town is one of the most prosperous cities in the Dominican Republic. It has become the principle tourist pole-in the mountains-and an alternative destination in the country and the Caribbean.
"There are also important agro-businesses working here, the national poultry producers have established large projects here and if the river is diverted, all this will come down," he said.
Environmental problems
Engineer Daniel Jimenez, a member of the environmental team of the Academy of Science, said that if the project with the initials MBT is approved, this would mean, from the technical point of view, that all the water between Los Dajaos and the Confluencia would be diverted.
"The intention is to remove practically all the water from the river in order to put it into a micro riverbed nearby, which would leave Jarabacoa practically without water," he said.
In the person in charge of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health in the province of La Vega, Doctor Norma Rosado, warned that the diversion of the Yaque would cause sicknesses among the population that supple themselves from the river between the start of the diversion all the way to the Tavera Dam. Among these diseases she mentioned malaria, Leptospirosis, dengue and other infectious diseases.
In the session at City Hall, there were also important persons from the business, political and environment sectors and president of neighborhood groups and representatives from the Committee for the Defense of the Yaque del Norte River, which is the largest in the country.
Some years ago, the City Council of Jarabacoa issued Resolution 034-2002 which declared the Yaque del Norte River from the high watershed and below to be the patrimony of the city of Jarabacoa.
Project
In November 2012, the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (Egehid) announced that it was thinking about developing the MBT hydroelectric project which would have a capacity of 104.8 megawatts.
Calling it "a priority project for the country," the EGEHID accepted a suggested presented by the Odebrecht (Brazil) and Impreglio(Italy) companies which was made during the transition period between the administrations of Fernandez and Medina. The suggestion was to reactivate the project with a cost of over RD$2.8 billion.
It was revealed that this infrastructure was conceived during the administration of Salvador Jorge Blanco and in 1987 then President Joaquin Balaguer turned it down because if its high cost and the size of the irreversible environmental and socio-economic impact that the community of Jarabacoa would suffer.
The amount of the contract being handled by Egehid talks about an investment of RD$861 million plus €59 million Euros, plus US$41.3 million from the United States.
Last 30 May 2012 the Egehid administration sent the construction companies letter marked with the number 0166-2012 in which it told them of their decision "to retake the agenda of activities of the project." Diario Libre tried to obtain the opinion of Egehid, but it was not possible.
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