INTEC rector assures sargasso generates a system of problems that must be faced in a multidisciplinary way
SANTO DOMINGO. - Julio Sanchez Marinez, rector of Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), assured that there is no sargassum problem as such, but a generalized problem system around the sargassum that requires academies solutions, government sector y the entrepreneurship, in which applied research is promoted.
By participating in the panel "Impact of Sargassum Management on tourism and coastal areas", made during the seminar "Challenges and opportunities of sargassum management for tourism in the Dominican Republic", Organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Sánchez Maríñez maintained that the problem of sargassum is what is known in the literature as a "complex problem", that is, whose origins and solutions go beyond any scientific field.
During his speech, he stated that the sargassum that reaches the beaches affects communities, service operators in the tourism sector, fishermen, but also marine ecosystems.
He said that, given the current scenario, in which every year the influx of sargassum increases considerably, "there is a lot of ground for the academy, with the private sector and with the government sector, to work based on the triple helix. In view of the urgent need to find solutions that mitigate or eliminate this problem that affects us and that has environmental, economic and social consequences that significantly violate our country and several countries in the region”.
He specified that INTEC together with the APEC, UNPHU, PUCMM, UNIBE, UFHEC and UNISA universities signed an agreement for the implementation of a network for the investigation, management and treatment of sargassum in the country, through projects subsidized by institutions of the public and private sector.
He pointed out that, within the academy, in the search for solutions to the issue of sargassum, comprehensive teams from various disciplines have collaborated, who have worked hard to determine what uses can be given to this macroalgae, what is its level of use and see the sargassum as an opportunity, as a raw material.
Sánchez Maríñez highlighted that at INTEC several aspects related to the subject of sargassum have been addressed, such as its characterization to understand how it is composed and how it decomposes, even to see how to handle it as solid waste without having to do more damage when it is removed from the beach.
He also specified that the university is in the testing phase and recently presented the final results of a liquid biofertilizer produced in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Association of Organic Banana Farmers of the Northwest Line. Likewise, a soap with activated charcoal based on sargassum is being tested for safety.
The opportunities
The director of the INTEC Research Division, Charles Sanley, also participated in the panel "Sargassum opportunities for the Dominican Republic", in which he highlighted that INTEC develops at least 11 research projects on sargassum among which the first Dominican satellite that will forecast the arrival of sargassum on Caribbean beaches stands out.
He called on the Dominican Republic to establish cooperation links with countries in the region that face the same problem. “All the nations have to help each other because it is not an exclusive problem of a country, but of a region,” he said.
He emphasized that the academies need resources to be able to carry out research, and in this sense, he congratulated the initiative of the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, to donate one million dollars for the development of university research aimed at the integral management of sargassum.