SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, (AFP) – The Dominican Republic on Monday announced a partial reopening — for goods but not people — of its border with Haiti, closed last month in a dispute over a shared river.

The measure, effective from Wednesday morning, would allow exports to Haiti but a ban would remain in place on people crossing, government spokesman Homero Figueroa said after a national security council meeting.

It would “facilitate the trade of essential Dominican products such as food and medicines, especially for children,” said Figueroa, adding that “strict military control” will be maintained at the border.

The announcement came ahead of a planned UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti, the poorest country of the Americas and mired in an economic and political crisis aggravated by ferocious gang violence.

Haiti is heavily dependent on imports from the Dominican Republic which sends about 8.4 percent of its total exports — worth about $1 billion in 2022 — to its only neighbor on the shared island of Hispaniola.

Figueroa said a ban would remain in place on the exportation of electronic products and construction materials “to prevent the erection of structures that threaten our environmental heritage.”

The Dominican Republic announced the border closure three weeks ago in response to Haitian plans to build a canal on the Massacre River, arguing it violates several border treaties between the two nations.

As part of the canal dispute, the Dominican government also suspended visas for Haitians.

Dominican authorities are building a 160-kilometre (100-mile) concrete wall along the 380-kilometre border with Haiti to keep out undocumented migrants.