The Federation of Peasants Towards Progress based in the municipality of Bonao, called on the government headed by Luis Abinader to not eliminate the Yuna River, an important tributary in the northern part of the country that irrigates thousands of acres of land and has been for decades one of the main assets of these communities.
They said that since 1992, concrete proposals have been made, mitigate the poverty of peasant families residing along the upper Yuna, which is the reason for the state of deterioration of the area, and with it the ecological restoration of this important basin.
They argued that over the years, the basin has only benefited from reforestation with brigades paid for by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and some programs funded by private institutions, with which the organization has managed to restore and reforest important areas, but it is not enough to counteract logging and burning, intensive agriculture and extensive livestock farming.
They warn that they cannot continue talking, since the Dominican government has the responsibility of not allowing the Yuna River to perish; the drinking water of seven of the most populated provinces, the water that produces more than 50% of hydroelectric energy and the water that irrigates more than 60% of the country’s rice production.
They said that the bush will have to be removed, including their relatives who have gradually taken over, legally or illegally, portions of land that should never have been used for the activities for which they are now using it.
