Presidential surprise visits “prevent migration to cities”

SantoDomingo.- President Danilo Medina saysthat one of the beneficial effects of his so-called surprise visits to rural areas is that itprevents the children of agricultural workers from having to migrate to the maincities due to lack of opportunities for making a decent living.

He said that this was why his government was working forcredit to be accessible to as many associations and cooperatives as possible, tocreate the conditions for achieving greater levels of prosperity and wellbeing.

“We want people to improve their living standards and for families in the countryside to live with dignity, without having to migrate”,he stated.

Medina was speaking during Sunday’s surprise visit to beekeepers and livestock farmersin the community of San José del Puerto, during which he approved millions ofpesos in credit for increasing honey, wax, meat and milk production.

After asking the director of the Dominican Agrarian institute to speed up theprocess of granting land titles to farmers in this community, he told producersthat having a property title opened new doors, specifically when it comes to financingopportunities for obtaining credit.

President Medina explained how the Banco de Reservas and Fundación Reservas delPaís credit program worked, for second-tier organizations like theirs.

The beekeepers presented their funding proposal via theirspokesman Tomás Confesor, who requested RD$7.8 million for acquiring equipmentand queen bees with the aim of increasing their yields to export levels.

One of their aims is to increase the number of boxes for their hivesfrom 600 to 1,000, which will be essential for increasing honey and beeswaxproduction. President Medina responded by announcing that the government woulddonate 3,000 boxes and would request technical assistance for increasingproduction while maintaining good quality.