CONSTANZA, Dominican Republic.- The constant landslides along the road to Constanza, which keep it almost totally cut off, stem from the ecological damages in the zone, said Tuesday the mayor of that Central Mountain town, Joaquin Emilio Gomez (Chito).

He warned that the landslides will continue if other measures to repair the damages to the more than 20 square kilometers of forests aren’t taken.

Gomez said a forest fire around seven years caused incalculable environmental damages to those lands and charred all the trees. “Nature has a way of protecting itself because the roots take hold on the land and the surface layer”.

On Sunday night more than 1,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks slid onto the Casabito-Constanza span, along a zone devoid of trees.

Since yesterday Public Works crews and workers of the contractor Odebrecht are again trying to open at least one lane, and expect to restore traffic within two weeks, if the rains don’t continue.

Heavy equipment and crews work night and day to restore traffic, interrupted again around five kilometers from the Duarte highway, said supervising engineer Osvaldo Valdez.

More heavy equipment

Early today Odebrecht transferred heavy equipment such as graders, front end loaders, bulldozers and tractors to push the boulders from Sunday’s landslide down the ravines.