Jean Yves Jason, the Mayor of Port-au-Prince, displays its determination to launch major reconstruction projects in the capital. The residential neighborhood of Carrefour-feuille (which also concerns Bel Air and Saint Martin) was among his priorities. The mayor of Port-au-Prince has designed for this purpose, an ambitious housing project in the scheme of territorial coherence, for a total cost of 510 million dollars.

Last Monday, an initial briefing, organized by the mayor of Port-au-Prince, was held in a hotel of Pétion ville, to enable donors and NGOs interested in rebuilding the neighborhood, to be aware of the project and avoid duplications. The meeting was attended by Mayor Jean Yves Jason, President Joseph Michel Martelly, representatives of NGOs, donors and technicians of the Town Hall.

Elizabeth Coicou, Consultant to yje Haitian Center for Research in Planning and Development, which is the technical arm of the council, explained that 130 hectares are concerned by this project. Stating that "at first 61 hectares will be built, the time to stabilize other hectares by constructing watersheds and manage gullies." This project will allow the construction of 14,500 apartments of 45 m2 each and permit to relocate a little over 70,000 people.

"There is a first phase of 30 million, the Haitian government, the office of monetization and another instance of the international community, we will convince them to put all the money they have so we can all move forward together to make this project" explained Mayor Jason "...This project aims to rebuild homes, all equipment, as I said, it fits in the scheme of territorial coherence where there is first the public facilities, homes, recreation areas for a functional neighborhood [...] in fact it is a step by step, it is a process of civic integration, these are people from our plans and funding that we have, that will make the reconstruction with us. First in the phase of removal, in the second phase of installation of equipment, third in the construction of the facilities..."

Michel Martelly welcomed the initiative of the Mayor of Port-au-Prince and expressed his support for this impressive project "I think it was important that I take note of this project, so I can better understand what is being done here, to be imbued with what is happening, to support the Mayor in his approach, it seems that there is more than one mayor in this project since we are talking of the littoral up to Carrefour, we speaks of Cité Soleil. But the essential is that in the reconstruction, we all agree on is what will be done [...] it is very important that we begin to identify the funds at the project level [...] I will walk with everyone to support them, facilitate the disbursement of funds and find them, so that we can remove people from under the tents and we rebuild Haiti..." Martelly President, stressed the importance of consultation between stakeholders an essential condition for obtaining funds. At the same time, he promised to work, for important projects for the community, result in concrete results.

Mayor Jason, who repeatedly complained about the opposition of the Government, welcomed the support of the new President. Currently, major donors are the World Bank, the International Organization for Migration and Oxfam. Completion of this project is planned over a period of 5 years

Article By S/ HaitiLibre