We're moving at full speed on all fronts. When we talk about the perimeter fence, we're not just talking about a fence; we're talking about 20 centimeters of reinforced concrete, sections of mesh and tubular steel, and a route that will serve our Armed Forces to guard the border.” Engineer Luis Casanova.
PEDERNALES – “The process is progressing well; the towers will soon be visible, one of which is almost finished. At pyramid 18, adding the two sections, we have about 700 meters, and between pyramids 12 and 13, another 1,200 meters are ready. That's the concrete, but we've already started installing the steel chain-link fence, and we have many kilometers to go. We have to see the roads leading to both sides, the serpentine paths, the gates… all of that is a process that's going well,” declared the Minister of Defense today, during a tour of the site.
Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa led a commission of Armed Forces officers and executives from the companies responsible for the construction and supervision of the smart perimeter fence being built on the border with Haiti. They toured the region to verify the progress of the work, stating, "The Dominican Armed Forces are committed to the country to carry out this initiative of President Luis Abinader Corona.".
He said the project is the most significant in terms of security along the entire border. “This is a process that has involved obtaining permits, soil studies, cadastral surveying, land surveying, authorizations from the Ministry of the Environment, searching for mines to obtain the materials—all of that. It's a serious undertaking,” he stated.
He explained that his tour is part of the ongoing monitoring of the project and that it has the support of all state institutions, especially the Ministries of Public Works and Environment, and the Indrhi (National Institute of Hydraulic Resources),” added Díaz Morfa.
Engineer Luis Casanova, project director for Cofass, one of the companies in charge of the project, explained that “We are proceeding at full speed on all fronts. When we talk about the perimeter fence, we're not just talking about a fence; we're also talking about 20 centimeters of reinforced concrete, sections of mesh and sections of tubular steel, and a section that will serve our Armed Forces to guard the border.”.
The stages
Currently, the first phase of the aforementioned perimeter fence is under construction. It will consist of 19 surveillance and control towers, 10 access gates for patrols, and 54 kilometers of roads for surveillance and maintenance on both sides.
For the second phase, which spans 110 kilometers and comprises nine sections, the bidding process for the design has already begun. The design includes a reinforced concrete wall structure, chain-link fencing, and a grid of steel profiles topped with concertina wire. Along its length, it will have two access roads, watchtowers, and gates at strategic locations, allowing for patrols on both sides.
In addition, and as part of the technological solutions, both phases will have video surveillance cameras, ground radars, motion sensors at specific points, command, control, communications and computer (C4) centers at the formal crossings of Dajabón, Elías Piña, Independencia and Pedernales, all integrated with the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cybersecurity and Intelligence (C5i) Center of the Armed Forces, and the acquisition of drones with the capacity for aerial patrol on the border line, with day and night vision cameras.
