NewsWhore
02-19-2009, 02:50 PM
In Mal Paso, Jimani, in the "Deep South" along the Haitian border, the Azuei Lake has reclaimed some of its former lakebed, flooding homes, farms and nearly trapping the bi-national marketplace. According to reports, the body of water, once part of the Enriquillo Lake and now mostly in Haiti, holds the waters from heavy rains that have fallen in the recent months. According to the Listin Diario, the lake has reclaimed some three square kilometers of Dominican territory, and flooded the Center for Exports and Investment offices in Jimani, as well as the office of the Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Vegetable and Animal Health and the offices of the Specialized Corps of Frontier Security (Cesfront). The roof of the Customs office is barely above water.
The bi-national marketplace is surrounded by waters that apparently are rising on a daily basis. To save the marketplace, the locals have brought in truckloads of stones and dirt to shore up the roadway and dam the lake's attack on the only road in the area.
Readers should remember that Jimani was the town that was hard hit by flood waters and mud from the Soliel River in May 2004 after heavy rains fell in the region. Today a new river has apparently opened its path across town, going through yards and near buildings, leaving some of them in the middle of the salty waters.
According to Omar Ramirez, the Minister of State for the National Council on Climate Change and Clean Development, the new water flows are the result of the higher levels of the Azuei Lake which have brought back old streams. He said that "...the lake is reclaiming its land."
Local residents fear that there is not much time left before the Enriquillo and Asuei lakes cover entire communities. They point to the fact that at one end of the road to Boca de Cachon the Enriquillo Lake covers part of the roadway and at the other end there are clean and salty waters going through the gutters. Farmers have lost crops already and others are in danger of being flooded.
Well-known environmentalist Eleuterio Martinez, who is deputy minister of Environment, pointed out that all of the rivers that flow into these lakes are insufficient in their volume to increase the levels by so much, adding to the peculiarity of the situation. Martinez said that in the case of the Enriquillo, scientific research indicates that four times more water evaporates than that enters the lake from underground sources.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
The bi-national marketplace is surrounded by waters that apparently are rising on a daily basis. To save the marketplace, the locals have brought in truckloads of stones and dirt to shore up the roadway and dam the lake's attack on the only road in the area.
Readers should remember that Jimani was the town that was hard hit by flood waters and mud from the Soliel River in May 2004 after heavy rains fell in the region. Today a new river has apparently opened its path across town, going through yards and near buildings, leaving some of them in the middle of the salty waters.
According to Omar Ramirez, the Minister of State for the National Council on Climate Change and Clean Development, the new water flows are the result of the higher levels of the Azuei Lake which have brought back old streams. He said that "...the lake is reclaiming its land."
Local residents fear that there is not much time left before the Enriquillo and Asuei lakes cover entire communities. They point to the fact that at one end of the road to Boca de Cachon the Enriquillo Lake covers part of the roadway and at the other end there are clean and salty waters going through the gutters. Farmers have lost crops already and others are in danger of being flooded.
Well-known environmentalist Eleuterio Martinez, who is deputy minister of Environment, pointed out that all of the rivers that flow into these lakes are insufficient in their volume to increase the levels by so much, adding to the peculiarity of the situation. Martinez said that in the case of the Enriquillo, scientific research indicates that four times more water evaporates than that enters the lake from underground sources.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)