"We'd rather die in confrontations with the Dominicans than die of hunger," vows Rochenel Paulimus, one of the initiators of the canal construction on the Massacre River. Paulimus, a farmer and the coordinator of the Assembly of Communal Sections (ASEC) in the lower Maribaroux region of Ferrier commune, is deeply committed to the cause. This vast plain, covering 12,000 hectares, of which 3,000 are irrigable, has become the focal point of their efforts.
Since Dominican President Luis Abinader's controversial decisi