MONTECRISTI, Dominican Republic. - Hundreds of rice farmers from several nearby municipalities blocked the Duarte highway today, to demand the repair of an irrigation canal’s retaining walls along the North Yaque river.

Farmers on tractors, trucks and pickups blocked the 24-kilometer span Montecristi-Navarrete highway, next to the Castñuelas exit, backing up traffic including semis pulling freight to and from Manzanillo port, while others had to take a detour through Mata Santa Cruz.

The Santa Rita levy’s dikes sustained heavy damage from the rushing waters released from Tavera dam on December 15, during Tropical Storm Olga.

The rice farmers said they had to sell their seedlings because the plants were past the planting stage.

The Rice Producers Association, which organized the protest, said the construction company Yurull rebuilds the dikes “at a turtle’s pace,” prompting them to ask the Dominican Hydraulic Resources Institute (Indrhi), to order that company to speed up the work, aimed at recovering the water through the Horacio Vásquez canal, so they can begin their harvest.