Strange dam project again threatens Dominican mountain town

Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.- Hundreds of people gathered at a mass Sunday morning in the village of ??Yerba Buena, in Jarabacoa township, to oppose the plan to reroute the Yaque del Norte river.

The plan to build another dam on the Yaque was first revealed during the presidency of Hipolito Mejia in 2003, called the Manabao-Bejucal-Tavera project, but Jarabacoa’s townspeople managed to squash it, helped by the experience of nearby Baitoa, whose representatives cited the devastating effects which the Tavera Dam had on its economy.

Since early morning hundreds of people started arriving at the bridge over the Yaque from distant corners of the Jarabacoa municipality, where the tourist town’s most prominent personalities joined social and business leaders in the mass to oppose the project.

Also present were representatives from nearby Buena Vista, several neighborhood and community groups, activists, religious leaders and youngsters, who signed a document to rebuke the planned construction of the dam and the rerouting of the river.

The crowd joined catholic priest Rogelio Cruz chanting "the Yaque is not for sale, the Yaque will be defended!"