The Dominican Republic has plans to swiftly complete a 250-mile border wall along its shared boundary with Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, an attempt to protect the country as its land neighbor falls into further chaos.
Dominican President Luis Abinader is surging soldiers and construction resources to seal off the border as conditions on the west side of the island have slid into a state of anarchy in recent weeks as gangs and warlords have further clenched control of Haiti.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal the Dominican president said “We are ensuring that this destabilizing situation stops right at the border,” end quote
The border wall project commenced three years ago and is based on Israel’s wall.
Abinader is running for reelection in May, and if he is successful, he will move quickly on carrying out a $120 million plan to install a barrier along the border.
Stage one of the plan is standing up a 12-foot wall made of concrete, topped with a metal fence and razor wire. That barrier would stretch along 30 miles of the most populated area along the border’s Massacre River.
The Dominican government has already erected sentry towers that include solar-powered cameras, and it has deployed drones to monitor where Haitians might cross out of sight.
