Spanish
Santo Domingo.– Fishermen of the Ozama River are facing serious difficulties in carrying out their work due to the massive accumulation of water hyacinths, a problem that worsens with the rains and that, according to their complaints, has been ignored by the authorities for years.
Ramón Tiburcio, with over 45 years of experience in fishing and now dedicated to agriculture, explained that the excessive presence of lilacs, despite their ability to absorb pollutants, represents an obstacle for the boats that transit the river.
“The lilacs cover everything that is called the channels that enter the Ozama, such as the Toza, the Yabacao and the Isabela. When it rains in abundance, they get stuck from the floating bridge to the 17th. The boats cannot sail”, indicated Tiburcio.
The problem intensifies with the existence of the floating bridge, which prevents the natural flow of aquatic plants towards the sea, causing their accumulation in large sections of the river. This situation leaves fishermen unable to go to work, in some cases for up to five consecutive days.
To try to continue their work, some fishermen choose to move their boats by land, using trailers to cross the bridge. However, this maneuver represents an additional expense, as they must pay for surveillance for their boats as they do not have a protected dock on the other side.
“The damage isn't to the boat, it's to the fisherman. Because he can't work, and on top of that he has to pay a watchman to look after his boat,” lamented Tiburcio.
Community members also criticize the Interceptor 004's lack of effectiveness, installed by the organization The Ocean Cleanup to collect trash in the Ozama. According to Tiburcio, the device remains inactive most of the time and is not designed to deal with the magnitude of the problem.
“That device came for nothing. It only stops the lilac with a boom, but it has no capacity to collect it. This river needs something else, because lilac comes down from all the tributaries here,” he denounced.
The fishermen make an urgent call to the environmental, municipal authorities and the central government to intervene effectively.
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Meanwhile, the Ozama River remains covered in lilacs and the fishermen, trapped in the water, continue waiting for answers.
