Monday at the Cultural Center of Elías Piña (Dominican Republic) the Director of the Energy Commission of the Dominican Republic and his Haitian counterpart, in the presence of several Dominican and Haitian figures, presented a project of renewable energy generation in the watershed of the Artibonite River, which separates the two countries that would allow to provide water and electricity, at an acceptable price to nearly half a million people on both sides of the border.

This project designed by the energy authorities of the two countries, involves the construction of small hydro power plants on both sides of the border, able to create jobs and promote sustainable development in poor communities.

Enrique Ramirez, Executive Director of the Dominican National Energy Board stated that at this early stage it is not possible to assess the cost of the project but that the elements of this project are by cons identified highlighting as a possibility among others: that the electricity generated by the project is integrated into the Dominican and Haitian energy systems, or the construction of a reservoir or dam to increase the profits of each country.

This project is in its preliminary phase of research of investment sources and studies, among other on the socio-economic conditions and biophysics of Binational Basin of the Artibonite for the development in addition of the renewable energy, of the agriculture, water resources and environmental management.

This project proposal was funded by the Global Environment Facility, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and carried out with funding from Oxfam Quebec, in collaboration with the Ministries of Environment of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and co-financed by the Canadian Agency for International Development (CIDA).

TB/ HaitiLibre