NewsWhore
10-29-2009, 06:20 PM
A study by consultant Humberto Checo reports on the burgeoning illegal business of charcoal production and smuggling to Haiti, where it is estimated that 86% of charcoal used for cooking now comes in from the DR. Haiti has deserts where it once had forests, and now these deserts are moving eastwards, taking over the once lush virgin forests of Bahoruco, on the Dominican side of the border.
The study by the Independencia Province Department of the Ministry of Environment identified 23 communities in Bahoruco and Independencia provinces where 200 producers make 37,000 sacks of charcoal a month. Hoy newspaper reports that the business is displacing farming in the border provinces.
The report says that all the charcoal then is sent to Tierra Nueva, Boca de Cachon and Puerto Escondido from where it is sent to Haiti, mainly by crossing the Azuei Lake in Haiti. The report says that most of the producers are Haitian, assisted by 12 Dominican truckers. The report found that police and military officials are bribed for their cooperation and that five Haitian traders are known to purchase the charcoal for resale in Port-au-Prince.
The Ministry of Environment study says that production is equivalent to 445,78 sacks a year, sold at RD$200 a sack, generating the RD$89 million market. The RD$200 price for a sack of charcoal is much less than the RD$1,500 that the Listin Diario recently reported a sack of charcoal could fetch across the border.
A breakdown is provided of the revenue split. The producers receive RD$44.6 million (50%), the truckers and boat runners receive RD$22.3 million (25%), the local middlemen receive RD$11.6 million (13%) and the "tips and bribes" amount to RD$10.7 million (12%) of the sales.
The production covers 33,728 tareas (21,211,202 square meters) and some 83,431 farm workers are involved.
Checo warns that this profit center, with a strong demand for the product, has caused a serious deterioration of forestry resources in the border area, with large areas already suffering from desertification, severe biodiversity losses, poverty and blatant corruption.
It concludes with a grim picture. Given the growing demand and the lack of alternatives for cooking and economic opportunities in the region, he expects that charcoal production will continue despite control efforts that may be implemented.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
The study by the Independencia Province Department of the Ministry of Environment identified 23 communities in Bahoruco and Independencia provinces where 200 producers make 37,000 sacks of charcoal a month. Hoy newspaper reports that the business is displacing farming in the border provinces.
The report says that all the charcoal then is sent to Tierra Nueva, Boca de Cachon and Puerto Escondido from where it is sent to Haiti, mainly by crossing the Azuei Lake in Haiti. The report says that most of the producers are Haitian, assisted by 12 Dominican truckers. The report found that police and military officials are bribed for their cooperation and that five Haitian traders are known to purchase the charcoal for resale in Port-au-Prince.
The Ministry of Environment study says that production is equivalent to 445,78 sacks a year, sold at RD$200 a sack, generating the RD$89 million market. The RD$200 price for a sack of charcoal is much less than the RD$1,500 that the Listin Diario recently reported a sack of charcoal could fetch across the border.
A breakdown is provided of the revenue split. The producers receive RD$44.6 million (50%), the truckers and boat runners receive RD$22.3 million (25%), the local middlemen receive RD$11.6 million (13%) and the "tips and bribes" amount to RD$10.7 million (12%) of the sales.
The production covers 33,728 tareas (21,211,202 square meters) and some 83,431 farm workers are involved.
Checo warns that this profit center, with a strong demand for the product, has caused a serious deterioration of forestry resources in the border area, with large areas already suffering from desertification, severe biodiversity losses, poverty and blatant corruption.
It concludes with a grim picture. Given the growing demand and the lack of alternatives for cooking and economic opportunities in the region, he expects that charcoal production will continue despite control efforts that may be implemented.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)