ARTICLE - SECTORAL ASSEMBLIES

SECTORAL ASSEMBLY - LEOGANE, GRESSIER, GRAND GOAVE AND PETIT GOAVE
(Haiti Libre) -

Thanks to the technical support of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a Sectoral Assembly was held last Saturday in the town of Petit-Goâve, on the premises of the Louco Night Club, under the auspices of the Coordinating Committees on the Initiative of Petit Goâve (COCIPEG), a structure composed of citizens of the Civil Society. This activity was attended by Marc Ronald Justal and Yves Lindor, respectively Mayors and Deputy Mayor of Petit Gôave, representatives of the Section of Human Rights of the Minustah, and of the organization OXFAM.

This Sectoral Assembly aimed to bring together members of the Initiative committees of the communes of Léogâne, Gressier, Grand Goâve and Petit Goâve to reflect on the problems they face, in order to develop a specification, to be used as an advocacy document to the Government.

The Initiative Committee of Léogâne has presented a set of requirements to help resolve everyday problems such as: the construction of a public market, social housing, a pipeline and dam on rivers, the necessity for a policy of environmental protection, and the urgent need for a land use plan, which according to the Committee, should occupy a large part of the concerns of our policy makers, both at the municipal, departmental and national levels.

Street markets abound and proliferate under the eyes of the authorities powerless to curb them, failing to offer a better alternative to these citizens in search of survival. Given the danger to which our economic agents are exposed.... the construction of a public market, would allow the municipality to maximize its tax revenue by control, and a better distribution of taxes.

For its part, the Committee of the town of Gressier mentioned the urgent need to build a hospital in the region, one of the major problems of the population, whose absence has caused the deaths of several citizens for lack of proper care. Jean Ronald, the MP for the town of Gressier, who attended the Sectoral Assembly, said on the subject, that he had already begun several approaches with the Minister of Public Health [Florence Duperval Guillaume], to resolve this important health issue. The MP stated, that he had received the unequivocal assurances of the Minister, that the construction of a new hospital in Gressier, would begin shortly.

For the members of the Committee of Grand Gôave, the vendors selling their products on National Route # 2, is their main concern. These shops, on the edges or on the pavement of the road, impede traffic and can cause traffic accidents, endangering the merchants, shoppers, drivers and pedestrians in general. Stressing that this social phenomenon is tied to the right to life, health, work and exercise is a business of their choice, calls the state in terms of regulation in relation to its regulatory functions. Given this situation, the citizens of Grand Gôave, advocate for the construction of a public market.

As for the people of Petit Gôave, their current priority concerns the sanitation of the town. The committee deplores that despite its historical and tourist potential, the town was abandoned by the authorities of the country and the city is in critical condition. The Committee recalls that the Commune has no infrastructure to enable people to live in a decent manner.

In his speech, Pascal Théodore, the Regional Coordinator of NDI, declared that this Sectoral Assembly was demonstrated for everyone, that highlights the importance and interest to organize for the development of Haiti. "The country will not know change without the organization of is sons, even if we have all the material and financial resources;" recalling that this approach was part of a post-earthquake process initiated by the NDI across the country, to identify the best strategies with communities, which can lead to the development of Haiti in order to propose them to the leaders, through a set of specifications.