PROMINENT HAITIAN URGES FAIRNESS ON US$2.0B BORDER MARKET
(Dominican Today) -
Santo Domingo - A former Haiti diaspora minister on Thursday urged the Dominican and Haitian authorities to seek solutions to the border markets’ problems, and rebuked Haitian prime minister Laurent Lamothe’s announcement to shutter them as a measure to halt smuggling and generate more revenue for his country.
"Unilateral decisions on issues as sensitive and important to the island’s life have never been appropriate," said Edwin Paraison of the cross border markets, which according to NGOs move an estimated US$2.0 billion annually, but affirms also that it means US$500 million in losses for Port-au-Prince.
Nonetheless, the president of the Zile Foundation called Lamothe’s concerns over smuggling at the border as "legitimate", but warned it mustn’t ever be confused with goods in containers and from merchants at those markets.
In a statement to DT, Paraison noted that long before president Michael Martelly’s current administration, mayors of Haiti border towns have complained that the weekly markets only benefit the Dominican side, adding that their demand to stage them one day on each side is fair.
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