Cross-border markets halted as officials mull Haiti ban

Dajabón, Dominican Republic.- The Dajabon Merchants Association on Monday reiterated its call to shutter border markets to protest Haiti’s ban on poultry and eggs from Dominican Republic, on alleged bird flu.

The halt comes as officials from both countries plan talks on lifting the ban that Port-au-Prince ordered citing concerns over alleged bird flu cases.

Association Freddy president Freddy Morillo said the halt of all activities will affect not only the market at Dajabón, but also in Elias Piña, Pedernales and Jimaní, until Haiti lifts the ban. "It’s unjustified because there’s no such disease in Dominican Republic."

He said all types of vehicles carrying food and goods will be stopped from reaching the border markets, including to and from Haiti.

Morillo said when Haitians tried to take chickens and eggs to their country on Friday, their country’s officials seized tem, killed the birds and broke the eggs, prompting a Haitian agent accidentally let off a round, which Ied to panic.