FENATTRANSC: no Haitians on buses during Holy Week

Santo Domingo – The National Federation of Christian Social Transport Workers (FENATTRANSC), urged its members to drive their vehicles with caution and respect the laws and traffic signs during the Easter holiday and also to refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages during working hours.

Mario Diaz, Secretary General of the union, called on all Dominican transport workers, regardless of which drivers’ union they belong to, to collaborate with the authorities of 911, INTRANT, the Ministry of Public Health, the COE and with the local authorities in each municipality of the country, if they are required in case of emergency.

Diaz also emphasized that they have given instructions to their affiliates at the national level to suspend during this long holiday the transportation of undocumented Haitian immigrants in all the border zone of the country, to avoid inconveniences with the General Direction of Migration and the State Security Agencies, which are carrying out tasks of apprehension and repatriation of illegal immigrants in our territory.

He emphasized that in the last weeks these official organisms have intensified their work of inspection of the vehicles of passenger transport, which causes inconveniences to the carriers of these zones since the interurban routes of the main provinces of the border zone are used by the illegal immigrants who escape from the difficult political situation which the neighboring country is going through.

He pointed out that the authorities check their vehicles and when they detect illegals there, they detain them and apply excessive fines and for this reason we have ordered the carriers operating routes in the zone not to transport Haitians and we also exhort the other transport organizations to take measures in this sense.