Jimaní, Dominican Republic. – The business of charcoal obtained from burning trees has become so lucrative that organized rings of Dominican and Haitians compete for its distribution and marketing.

The inhabitants affirm that the killing of three Haitians last week is the result of the traffic of charcoal made locally to sell in Haiti, and the activity is so profitable that it competes with that of drugs, guns, appliances, beverages, foods and other contraband.

After Dajabón’s (northwest) Jimaní’s is the largest border market, where smuggling is the option for some groups. The rivalry for turf or areas where charcoal furnaces are often built sparks violence, although never to the point of multiple killings.

Several intermediaries take part in the charcoal business, from the Dominicans who contract the Haitians to build the furnaces, to the Haitians who buy and then resell it in their country.

A sack of charcoal costs 250 gourdes (around RD$1,000), but its price can reach as high as 1,500 pesos in Haiti.

In “NO-MAN'S LAND”

At the border village Tierra de Nadie “No-man's land,” so called for its location in the middle of two Customs posts, hundreds of sacks of charcoal are stored awaiting shipment to Haiti. One of the traffic’s main reasons is that most Haitians don’t have stoves and charcoal is the only way to cook food.

According to a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) 2002 study, Haiti tops the list of the most deforested countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also found that in the last 50 years 18 percent of Hispaniola’s forests has been eliminated by its inhabitants who chop down trees for fuel and wood.

The profit from the sale of just three sacks of charcoal is more than the monthly wage of a forest ranger, the very person responsible for its protection.

SOURCE: listin.com.do