This Saturday, the authorities and tradespeople of Haiti and Dominican Republic plan to meet to agree on the reactivation of the binational market of Dajabón, of great economic importance for communities in the north of the two countries, since the closure of borders after the appearance of the first cases of Covid-19, since the Dominican Government has kept its land border closed, despite the fact that Haiti reopened its own on June 30.

During the meeting, the approval of a sanitary protocol prepared by the authorities of the two countries is expected, according to the officials of the border towns. "During this meeting, we will agree on a date for the official reopening of the market," declared Luma Demetrius the mayor of Ouanaminthe.

Santiago Riverón, the mayor of Dajabón, explained that as a first step, a pilot phase will be set up which will allow the temporary reopening of the market. The analysis of the results of this pilot phase will make it possible to decide whether the reopening of the market can become permanent.

Dominican merchants, who have already held two meetings with their Haitian counterparts, have proposed increasing the number of market days. "We have asked the Haitian authorities that the bilateral market be held Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. We are waiting for them to respond to this proposal," declared Félix Morillo President of the United Federation of Merchants of Dajabón.

In addition, Morillo said that it is "very likely" that bilateral trade takes place simultaneously in the two countries, because Haiti has physical facilities in Ouanaminthe funded by the European Union adding "We have no problem that the market operates in this way; in fact we even think that it is more convenient for both peoples [...] the only thing that brings life to the border is trade, therefore, we will agree to make this trade work again, not as before the pandemic, but in a way that can benefit for the economy of both countries [...]"

SL/ HaitiLibre