Inspection of the Jákanas River Section near PO29

May 4^th, 2012: Inspecting the  Jákanas (Jacanas) River section near the PO29 Jákana Taino Sacred Site of the Portuguese Dam Project in Ponce, I could hear the roar of the river valley discharging 3 days of solid rainstorm water runoff.

You can see by the photographs taken this afternoon that the river is swollen with runoff water.  This happens often. 

I visited the public access road to the security outpost that prevents unauthorized persons from entering the $ 375 million dollar dam site.  I was stopped and questioned and not allowed to proceed.  The swollen river was contained by the steep riverbank with no obvious flooding.

By accessing internet maps of the area I determined that the sacred site is some distance from the actual dam with a overhead height difference of only 50 feet.  The dam is expected to be 220 feet high for the primary purpose of flood control providing flood protection for 40,000 people and over 13,000 residential structures downstream in the city of Ponce. The dam is the final component of the Portugues and Bucana Flood Protection Project.  (check out youtube video at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xksbMvB7bLA and in English at   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-QFub1fsYQ)

Security Check Point at "Jacanas" (UCTP Photo)

The dam is not finished, it has progressed at a rapid rate but still is only half complete.    The river continues to pass through the dam area thru conduits of the Portugues  Dam outlet works designed to provide for river diversion during construction of the dams.

During excavation, a 130 x 160 ft (49 m). A Pre-Columbian era ceremonial plaza, "batey" or ball court used by the ancient Taino was discovered at a disposable site for the Portugues Dam's construction. A 60 ft (18 m). long row of intricately carved stones bearing petroglyphs that appeared to date to the 11th or 12th Century were discovered. Additionally, a burial ground containing at least 40 well-preserved sets of human remains was discovered. 15% percent of the site is believed to be discovered with as many as 400 bodies buried. The site had been initially marked during a cultural resource survey in 1979 but excavation work in 2007 prompted the major discovery.^[6]

^{Report submitted by Roger Guaiakan Hernandez, UCTP Council member and Liaison Officer in Boriken}

Government Oppression of the Taino People in Puerto Rico

The General Council of Tainos Borincanos has planned to clean-up the Bucana river in Jacanas (Tibes - Ponce), Puerto Rico on April 12 but their attempt has been impeded by the Department of Natural Resources.

The General Council of Tainos Borincanos having proposed - as part of our activities to promote conservation and respect of the environment - the clean-up of the Bucana river to mend the damage caused to the sacred site of Jacanas, Ponce, PR and to renew its integrity; had made efforts since the beginning of February to contact the Department of Natural Resources, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and other governmental agencies through various means of communication such as faxes, telephone calls, letters and personal visits. The Taino Council’s requests were never officially answered.

The Department of Natural Resources sent a delayed and confusing letter with no instructions on the procedures for carrying out such an activity; however they implied that the Taino Council needed to have the endorsement of federal agencies to clean our rivers and to protect Mother Earth.

On April 11th representatives of the Taino Council received a visit in the area designated for the activity, from agents of the Department Natural Resources who indicated that we could NOT hold this activity and that they had received orders from their superiors in San Juan.

At that time, leaders of the Council asked what law existed that prohibited the cleaning of the river and what violation constituted their action. No answer was received from the agents. This is ironic since the government of Puerto Rico and the Department of Natural Resources invest so much money and energy in announcements to the people of Puerto Rico insisting that the public mobilize to clean-up the environment. Here in Jacanas the government of Puerto Rico and the Department of Natural Resources has gone against the public mandate of set by their organizations.

This situation is especially sad since garbage continues to accumulate at the river and contaminate such an important and sacred place. There are NO signs to indicate that garbage should NOT be thrown. All of these realities offend the dignity and disrespect the memory of our ancestors and in general the people of Puerto Rico.

As this is happening at this very moment in Puerto Rico, this unfortunate and possibly dangerous situation is evidence of the state of repression that the descendants of the Taino-Boricua People and the People of Puerto Rico are facing. These actions taken by the government of Puerto Rico and the Department of Natural Resources clearly constitute discrimination and a violation of law and the freedom to exercise our rights.

General Council of Tainos Borincanos is requesting support from all Puerto Rican/Boricua environmental, cultural and indigenous communities as well as international indigenous rights organizations in order to exercise our rights as a people as well protect our patrimonial legacy.

To support, endorsement, or reactions, and ideas, write to
anacaotoao@hotmail.com or call 787-568-1547 or 787-858-4855.