Lago Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic is the largest
lake in the Caribbean. This lake has been rising and devouring thousands of
acres of farmland and what ever else is near. This lake threatens to consume
towns like, Boca de Cachon. There are
many theories as the why the lake has risen so much. As of now the answer is
unknown.
Jose Joaquin Diaz of the Dominican Republic believes
that his brother Victor was taken by this lake. “ Victor committed suicide ,
shortly after returning from a life abroad to see the family cattle farm, the
one begun by his grandfather, underwater”(Randal Archibold). The rise has taken a toll, around
Enriquillo, an area more populated than that around Azuei. The government
estimates that 40,000 acres of agricultural land have been lost. This is affecting
several thousand families who have lost all or part of their only livelihood of
yucca, banana and cattle farming. The main highway to the Haitian border was
flooded and alternate routes had to be found. In the Dominican Republic the
government doesn’t have the best track record and locals are skeptical as to if
the government will follow through with trying to solve this problem. Landowners
are also afraid that their soil will not be as fertile as it once was due to
the flooding. This flooding affects families and their ways of life. The crops and animals that are maintained on
these acres of land are most families income. If they lose that they have
nothing.
This
was a great article. It had great facts
but at the same time lots of detail.
Through Randal Archibold’s writing you could see that he really cared
about this topic. I would recommend this
article to anyone in need of a current event review or just interested in what’s
happening in the world.
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