Pact targets sarassum seaweed on beaches and coasts

Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader on Mon. said his administration “does not wait for the storm to pass, but we learn to dance in the rain,” during the signing of two agreements to recover the country’s beaches and coasts and control the seaweed sargassum.

The first agreement was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Association of Hotels and Tourism with a non-reimbursable investment of 400,000 dollars that will be used to determine coastal threats and to finance a diagnostic study to better understand the dynamics that threaten the areas, said IDB representative Miguel Coronado.

The other agreement is between Asonahores and Tourism to establish the fund for ‘Mitigation and Management of Sargasso on the Coasts of the Dominican Republic’ at a cost of US$15.6 million of which 50% will be contributed by the public sector and the other 50% by the private sector.

This agreement will have the purpose of covering the cost of the services and supplies that are necessary to contract to counteract the entry and permanence of sargassum.

The IDB, Tourism and Asonahores signed an MOU which prioritize the intervention of 35 beaches which have been included in rescue projects for the immediate future.

In addition, a mixed commission will be created to monitor the fund, in order to ensure the proper execution of this project, it will be made up of a representative of Asonahores, three representatives of the hotel sector and a representative of Tourism.

The president said that beaches are “a great gift from God” that must be protected

He assured that with this agreement they assume the responsibility of caring for this “today we are here assuming this responsibility, taking care of our treasures and above all showing that we feel blessed, that we love our country and value our freedom.”