The Dominican Republic proposed to the countries of the region the creation of a common fund to combat sargassum, which mainly affects Caribbean beaches.
The country’s Minister of Tourism, David Collado, explained that this proposal was made to representatives of the countries of the region during a series of meetings held in New York last week.
“We call on the countries of the region to create a common fund because if not, each country will be dealing with this problem on the shores of its beaches, but there will not be a solution that will truly eradicate it,” said the minister during a press conference.
The head of Tourism assured that the Dominican Republic “is in a position to lead” this initiative “together with Brazil”, a country from whose coasts “comes the largest amount of sargassum” that goes to the Caribbean.
This summer there has been a sharp increase of sargassum on Dominican beaches, especially on the east coast, where Punta Cana is located, but it has also spread to other areas that were not previously affected by this algae, such as the north and south coasts.
Collado explained that the latest tropical storms have extended the sargassum tide to these regions.
In the Dominican Republic, the government has announced the creation of a US$12 million fund, in association with hoteliers in the eastern region, to take measures against sargassum.
The minister said that the public sector has already delivered its share of US$6 million and, in the next few days, the private sector will contribute another US$6 million. The fund will be used to launch an international bidding process to buy a barrier and to look for the “best initiatives” to stop the proliferation of sargassum.
