VZCZCXRO6236
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1311/01 2011152
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201152Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3560
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1126
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 0971
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0517
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
EB/IFD 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR 
TREASURY FOR JEFFERY LEVINE 
COMMERCE FOR SCOTT SMITH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID ENRG PGOV HA
SUBJECT: MINISTER REPORTS THREATS ON PUBLIC PROJECTS, 
REQUESTS US BUSINESS ASSISTANCE 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified: please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary: Minister of Public Works, Transportation 
and Communication, Frantz Verella, told Ambassador July 17 
that his public works projects in Port-au-Prince are 
threatened regularly by bandits demanding money from those 
carrying out the projects.  He cited the example of a power 
struggle over projects to sell subsidized clean water to poor 
neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.  Reportedly, bandits are 
vying for control so that they can sell the water at an 
inflated price.  Verella said he has the cooperation of the 
Haitian National Police (HNP) and plans to strengthen 
security surrounding his projects.  According to Verella, the 
most important contribution the U.S. can make to Haiti's 
development is technical and managerial expertise for the 
business sector.  He discussed the possibility of a tender 
for various private sector suppliers to act as operators in 
the telecom and electricity industries, both of which are 
state-run and riddled with inefficiencies and corruption. 
End summary. 
 
Bandits Threaten Public Works Projects 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Minister of Public Works, Transportation and 
Communication, Frantz Verella, told Ambassador July 17 that 
his public works projects in Port-au-Prince are threatened 
regularly by bandits demanding money from those carrying out 
the projects.  He reported that some of his projects are held 
for ransom by inhabitants of the target neighborhoods who 
demand money, and in return, promise not to destroy the 
projects' results.  Projects include trash collection, road 
rehabilitation and canal construction. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Verella also cited the example of the power 
struggle over the Clean Water Committees his ministry has 
contracted throughout Port-au-Prince.  These committees sell 
subsidized five-gallon containers of clean water to 
neighborhoods for one gourd (about one third of one cent). 
He said certain individuals in the neighborhoods where the 
water is sold want to have control over the committee so that 
they can sell the water for an inflated price, re-pay the 
ministry and make a profit off the top.  The Minister said he 
refuses to pay the bandits and will continue with the 
projects.  He said he has the full cooperation of the 
Director General of the Haitian National Police (HNP) Mario 
Andresol and has asked for more police protection surrounding 
his projects. 
 
¶5.  (U) Verella said that his contractors are often badly 
supervised and do not carry out the work they are paid to do. 
 He used the example of street cleaners, who clean only for 
30 minutes, instead of four hours, and only in front of the 
Ministry, instead of throughout the capital. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment: It is not unusual in Haiti to see criminal 
activities surrounding those projects which attempt to bring 
order and stability to some of Haiti's most volatile 
neighborhoods.  The best solution is Verella's own: 
developing a partnership with the HNP and pairing public 
works projects with a stronger security presence, in addition 
to ensuring broad-based community support for the programs. 
End comment. 
 
Haiti Needs U.S. Business "Savoir Faire.." 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (U) According to Verella, the most important contribution 
the U.S. can make to Haiti's development is technical and 
managerial expertise for the business sector.  He recognized 
the wealth of knowledge, particularly among the Haitian 
diaspora, that the U.S. could offer Haiti's maturing small 
and medium size enterprise sector, both through training 
programs and joint-venture enterprises.  He underscored how 
difficult it is for his ministry to absorb international aid 
because of a general lack of capacity to carry out 
large-scale infrastructure projects.  The Ambassador agreed 
that this is a potential partnership worth exploring. 
 
PORT AU PR 00001311  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
..And Private Operators for State-Run Electricity and Telecom 
Sectors 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8.  (U) Verella discussed the possibility of introducing 
private companies as operators for the state-owned 
electricity and telecom companies.  He suggested that the GOH 
could put out a tender for various suppliers to serve as 
operators.  Specifically, he mentioned targeting Verizon, 
Cingular and France Telecom for the national telecom company; 
and Alstom and E-Power for Haiti's national electricity 
company.  He recognized that the ailing electricity company 
(Electricity d'Haiti -- EDH) would need more than a private 
operator to turn it into a reliable supplier of energy.  He 
told the Ambassador of plans to repair electricity equipment 
throughout the country and discuss with the top energy 
consumers how the state can better provide electricity 
service.  (Comment:  Verella's enthusiasm for private 
operators was clear, but Post has no illusions that this may 
actually be GOH first steps to privatization.  Given 
bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption, prospects, 
particularly for EDH, still look dim.) 
SANDERSON