ARTICLE - BURGLARY - VANDALISM

BURGLARY AND VANDALISM AT THE HOPITAL NOTRE DAME DE PETIT-GOAVE
(Haiti Libre) -

On the night of Saturday, March 17, 2012, a group of parents, accompanied by a crowd of people, transported to the Hopital Notre Dame de Petit-Goâve, someone who had been wounded. Taking advantage of a crowd movement, some individuals took the opportunity to leave the emergency room and get into the residence of the doctors where they stole laptops, iPods and other valuable materials. They also damaged the ambulance of the hospital under the pretext that the wounded had not received treatment, while two nurses of service took care of the victim who, due to the severity of his injuries, was transferred urgently to the hospital at Léogâne. A justice of the peace of the city went to the scene to prepare the minutes of the damage and items stolen.

Mr. Nicolas Jean-Louis, the Chief of the hospital staff strongly condemned this act of burglary and vandalism, and asked the Justice to open an investigation, so that the culprits are apprehended. He also urged local authorities to teach civic education to the people, so that they can know their rights, their duties, and protect at the same time, the public institutions.

Alongside this incident, the Chief of Staff complained that the Hopital Notre-Dame is not able to fulfill its role. "This hospital is currently facing a shortage of doctors, human resources and equipment. It does not have specialists, however it is a referral hospital, which should serve not only the town of Petit-Goâve, but also nearby cities: Grand-Goâve and Miragoâne. It is necessary that the State, including the Ministry of Public Health takes its responsibility by giving the hospital the necessary human resources, and appropriate equipment, so that it is able to provide services to the population of Palmes, of the South East and the South."

Note that more than two years after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, no rehabilitation of this hospital that was seriously damaged, has been undertaken thus far...