ARTICLE - 1,300 FAMILIES - EVICTION THREAT

1,300 FAMILIES THREATENED WITH EVICTION
(Haiti Libre) -

In Lamentin 54, the displaced hosted on the Grâce village site since January 12, 2010, denounce the threat of forced evictions, which they have been subjected for 9 months from the owner of this vast field, the Reverend Pastor Joël Jeune. During a press conference on October 28, 2011, in Port-au-Prince, the inhabitants of this camp have pointed out a certain Marc Antoine, who, they say, is working for this pastor to force them to leave the area.

These displaced people who now number 1,300 families, have indicated that the site owner has already forced to leave more than 500 of them in the last six months. "We were 1,800 affected families who lived in this area since January 12. The pastor from time to time tends to reduce the number with the help of agents of the National Police," said Marcel Germain, a resident of the site.

They also denounced a "contribution of 55 gourds" that the person responsible for Grâce Village requires of them each month under the pretext of doing sanitation work within this IDP camp. "To this end, they presented some copies of their records of payment. "Since the day we have been here, we are forced to pay a contribution of 55 gourdes. We question the use that was made of this money because in this space, the living conditions are poor," denounced Merzélia who is living there as well.

"We can no longer accept the poor relations during the forced evictions carried out in a cascade in the IDP camps of the country. Our position is particularly understandable since the Haitian Constitution obligates the Haitian State to provide the son and daughters of the country adequate housing" "recalled Ms. Monique Fanfan, a resident of the camp.

For his part Doliscar Jackson, a member of the Collective of organizations for the Defense of housing rights, a speaker at the conference, has invited the owners of the IDPs camps, to allow sufficient time to the displaced before evicting them.