Fires set by farmers char Los Haitises National Park, deputy warns

Monte Plata, Dominican Republic.- As many as 100 wildfires char the forests at Los Haitises National Park (northeast), ruling PLD party deputy Ricardo Contreras affirmed Monday, blaming Haitians who plant cash crops under instructions from "criminal hands.”

He called Los Haitises the Antilles’s biggest ecological lung, home to numerous rivers that supply water to Greater Santo Domingo and Monte Plata. He said it’s also home to a great variety of fauna of flora.

The lawmaker also warned of deforestation at Sierra de Yamasa range, the source of the Ozama River, the country’s fifth biggest watershed.

President Danilo Medina executive order 360-13 named a Commission to solve to the problem of the squatters evicted from Los Haitises and prevent its continued destruction.