VZCZCXRO0242
OO RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0117/01 0241408
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241408Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7543
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1763
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 0105
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1571
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2351
RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL 0250
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0994
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000117 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PAS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EIND EAIR HA
SUBJECT: HAITI INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS SAID TO BE MOVING 
AHEAD; HELP STILL NEEDED 
 
PORT AU PR 00000117  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Minister of Public Works says that Haiti is 
moving ahead on airport modernization, electricity 
generation, and road construction.  A project of general 
airport modernization will privatize the international 
airport in Port-au-Prince.  The Minister wants to work with 
TSA on upgrading airport security.  Haiti is building three 
 
SIPDIS 
new power plants with the help of Venezuela, and repairing 
existing power plants, results of which should be felt by 
June.  With the help of international donors, Haiti is 
proceeding apace with road construction and refurbishment in 
the capital and the regions.  The Minister lamented that 
Haiti suffers from a continuing exodus of skilled talent, and 
hoped his ministry could partner with U.S. federal and state 
institutions.  End Summary 
 
Airport Security/Modernization 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ambassador called on Minister of Public Works, 
Transport and Communications Frantz Verella January 17 to 
present the written findings of the June 2007 TSA study of 
security conditions at Toussaint Louverture International 
Airport in Port-au-Prince.  Verella said that his ministry, 
along with the Ministry of Interior and the Secretary of 
State for Public Security were following up on airport 
security, which he conceded had to be improved.  Haiti was 
embarking on a program of airport modernization that would 
include privatization of the facility.  Bringing the private 
sector into administration of the airport would require new 
legislation.  He expected the international airport in 
Port-au-Prince to have a new operator by the end of 2009. 
Verella promised to work with TSA on airport security. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Minister noted that in the context of national 
transportation and public works, Haiti lacked skilled people. 
 There was a continuous ''brain exodus'' of skilled people 
from Haiti.  He wondered whether departments of public works 
of individual states, such as Iowa or Arkansas, could serve 
as a model for Haiti, and help restructure his ministry, 
perhaps with the help of Haitian-Americans working in the 
U.S. Department of Transportation.  He also suggested that 
U.S. state universities partner with his ministry for the 
same purpose. 
 
Filling the Power Gap 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Minister provided a tour-d'horizon of investment 
projects in which his ministry is involved.  The most serious 
immediate problem was the lack of electrical power in much of 
the country.  The three Venezuela-supplied power plants -- in 
Port-au-Prince, Gonaives, and Cap Haitien -- were scheduled 
to come on-line later this year, although the target dates 
might slip.  They would go a long way to providing the 
additional 100 MW that Haiti needed, but Haiti would need 
additional funds to pay for the fuel to power them.  Haiti's 
national electricity company (Electricite d'Haiti - EDH) 
continued to lose money due to lax payment discipline and 
widespread illegal tapping.  EDH thus needed a new management 
company, the first priority of which would be to increase 
bill collection.  In addition, the Ministry was working with 
various private firms to repair and upgrade smaller power 
stations throughout the country, including in Belladere.  The 
Minister predicted that Haiti overall would have increased 
electrical power by June, contributing to overall stability. 
 
Road Network 
------------ 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00000117  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ministry was working with the Inter-American 
Development Bank and World Bank on terms for upgrading and 
expanding Haiti's road network.  The GOH expected the IDB to 
supply a few million USD worth of road-building equipment by 
April-May of this year.  Construction continued on the road 
from Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes.  Only a few kilometers 
remained to complete the stretch from Port-au-Prince to 
Miragoane, which would then be extended to Aquin.  A study 
was underway for the stretch Miragoane-Jeremie.  North east 
of Port-au-Prince, the road from Croix des Bouquets to 
Mirabalais was under construction.  A call for tenders was 
out for the segments Mirabalais-Hinche and Hinche-Cap 
Haitien.  The EU would finance most of the latter two 
projects. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Turning to road building in the capital, Verella 
recalled that President Preval had declared rehabilitation of 
the capital's transportation network a priority.  The 
Minister planned the rehabilitation of center city transport 
along five or six transportation axes.  However, the Minister 
noted the delicacy of this task:  Haiti's ''fragile society", 
with its lack of respect for law, had difficulty coping with 
impositions on property owners caused by major construction. 
These included reclamation of public sidewalks that had been 
occupied by street vendors and covered with walls by owners 
of street-side properties.  The Ministry had let tenders to 
foreign companies for rapid repavement of segments of two 
central thoroughfares, which had been completed in two nights 
with minimal disruptions to traffic.  Those projects would 
continue.  They were relatively easy, because they involved 
no claims on property owners.  Other road repavements and 
widening, however, would necessitate informing property 
owners that construction, such as walls, that encroached on 
public sidewalks or roadways would be removed by the 
government.  The government is approaching this issue 
carefully; mailing each property owner involved three letters 
of warning, followed by a final visit by a Ministry official. 
SANDERSON