Bajos de Haina

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Bajos de Haina, also known simply as Haina, is a town and municipality in the San Cristóbal (province), of the Dominican Republic. In 1993 the population was estimated at 68,261, but recent estimates in 2005 claimed the population was as high as 140,175. It is about 10 miles/16km west of Santo Domingo; 18°25'N 70°02'W. Port and industrial center. Bajos de Haina, has been referred to as the 'Dominican Chernobyl'. The Dominican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, since its creation in 2000, has identified Haina as a national hotspot of significant concern. According to the United Nations, the population of Haina is considered to have the highest level of lead contamination in the world, and its entire population carries indications of lead poisoning. The contamination is believed to have been caused by the past industrial operations of the nearby Baterías Meteoro, an automobile battery recycling smelter. Although the company has moved to a new site, the contamination still remains.^[1]

[edit] History

According to some versions, Miguel Díaz, who had migrated from La Isabela, arrived in Haina after having injured a man who was intimately related to the Spanish authorities. Once he settled there, he married a native woman named Catalina who told him of a gold deposit in the western bank of the Haina River. After confirming the existence of the precious metal, he returned to La Isabela where he told Christopher Columbus and his brother Bartholomew of his discovery. The Admiral sent his brother to confirm the existence of the deposit, since he had to leave for Europe.

Bartholomew realized that there indeed was gold and decided to build a fort that he named San Cristóbal, which served as lodging for the soldiers that participated in this activity.

A very large gold nugget was found in 1502, at the western bank of the Haina River, eight kilometers from Villa Altagracia, in a place known as Madrigal. The nugget was sent to Spain, but the ship that carried it sank along with Governor Francisco Bobadilla, Cacique Guarionex and dozens of Spaniards.^[2]