ARTICLE - DEMO WORK AT GENERAL HOSPITAL

DEMOLITION WORK AT GENERAL HOSPITAL
(Haiti Libre) -

The demolition work of the hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH) has begun since the beginning of December. The priority is given to the safety of users and patients of the hospital. A security perimeter was established because "the buildings that have suffered extensive damage [...] they can fall at any moment with the risk of aftershocks in Haiti," indicated Guy Laroche, Director of the HUEH.

For the beginning of work at HUEH, a concrete water tower and three buildings have been identified: pediatrics, laboratory, and surgery have been transferred temporarily to prefabricated buildings while waiting for the buildings to be rebuilt.

"We have taken every precaution to make the demolitions go safely. We have delimited the site with barriers and we have set up a sprinkler system to prevent the spread of dust generated by the collapse of the building," explains Vladimir Goin, project manager of the NGO Disaster Waste Recovery (DWR). "Our involvement does not stop at the demolition. We put the recyclable debris aside and we send them to the recycling site of the UNOPS to be transformed into building materials such as street paving and Adoquin, in collaboration with the MTPTC."

Located in the neighborhood of Lélio-Morne à Tuf, the hospital of the State University of Haiti is one of the 8,000 buildings to be demolished [classified red] in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, as part of the debris management program. Coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the NGO DWR, the demolition work of the hospital will be completed before the end of the year.

First phase

The demolition is the first phase of the reconstruction of the HUEH for which $USD52 million are committed by the United States (USAID), France (AFD) and the Republic of Haiti. The HUEH was built in the early 1920's, and it is the largest hospital in Haiti, with a capacity of 700 beds. It receives over 10,000 new patients per month.