[DR1] Jimani, two years on

[NewsWhore]

Two years ago today, the town of Jimani on the Haitian border woke to a tragedy of unimagined proportions as mudslides and flood waters surged through the town, killing a still-undetermined number of people. Most observers and local residents put the number in the hundreds. Today, the scars are still there and the threat of a new disaster is ever present. So are the causes of the first disaster. According to father Jose Ramon de la Cruz, the local parish priest, the continued use of slash and burn methods for farming small plots and the continuing process of deforestation on the slopes of the mountains near the town constitute the basic elements for a repeat of the disaster. The priest also says that the dyke that is being built along the Rio Blanco will not solve the problem of flooding during the rainy season. Speaking frankly, the priest said that "the problem is in Haiti, not down here. Until Haiti starts a reforestation program, there will be no solution (to the flooding)". The parish priest cites a lack of coordination among the members of a bilateral commission that was set up to deal with the problem.

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