VZCZCXRO1093
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1686/01 3431806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081806Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9254
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT AU PRINCE 001686 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
STATE FOR S/CRS, INR/IAA 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: POSTCARDS FROM MIRAGOANE AND PETIT-GOAVE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The towns of Miragoane and Petit Goave are 
case studies of how limited local resources and central 
government neglect constrain the viability of local 
government in Haiti.  Municipalities are able to supply basic 
municipal services only sporadically.  The national power 
company supplies electricity a few hours a day in the cities, 
and virtually none in rural areas.  The flooding caused by 
tropical storms and hurricanes last August-September has made 
a bad situation worse.  The lingering effects of those 
storms, and the central government's failure to deliver 
promised relief, have amplified both local government 
distrust of Port-au-Prince and local residents' frustration 
with their local elected leaders.  In this atmosphere, local 
officials have little enthusiasm for upcoming elections. 
They fear that voters will hold them responsible in the next 
election for the central government's poor disaster response 
to the cities' needs.  End summary. 
 
--------- 
Miragoane 
--------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Poloff on November 20 visited the coastal city of 
Miragoane in the Nippes Department, approximately 100 
kilometers from Port-au-Prince, on the northern coast of 
Haiti's ''southern claw.''  The commune and adjacent 
communal/rural sections boast a population of 78,000 
residents, 80 percent of whom live in one of the rural areas. 
 (Note:  Population figures are from the most recent census 
of 2003, prepared by the Haitian Institute of Statistics and 
Information/IHSI. End note) Assistant Mayor Monfils Jeanty 
and Director General of the mayor's office (''Mairie'') Yves 
Marie Cadet told poloff that resource constraints force the 
Mairie to limit its attention primarily to the commune and 
nearest communal section, comprising 30,000 residents. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Jeanty said the Mairie is not able to cover 
salaries, school subsidies or unemployment compensation due 
to insufficient resources.  With a monthly budget of 200,000 
Haitian Gourdes (HTG), approximately USD 5,000, ''it is 
impossible to adequately support the needs of commune 
residents,'' he complained.  The Mairie employs sixty-eight 
people, but only a handful are permanent:  a secretary, a 
messenger, and a housekeeper.  The remaining employees are 
sanitation workers and ''dock workers'' who work sporadically 
on a contract basis. 
 
Sanitation 
---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sanitation is a big concern.  Jeanty said the city 
collected tons of trash from the streets by hand and shovel 
in the past few months.  His employees take the garbage by 
wheelbarrow to a nearby informal dump where it is burned. 
Poloff noticed one large metal trash bin and several smaller 
trash ''baskets,'' made of wicker material, located near the 
market and one large metal trash bin near the entrance to the 
port.  The mayor said the city has no garbage or dump truck 
of its own, but is provided garbage trucks irregularly by the 
Public Works Ministry (TPTC).  When the trucks arrive, the 
city must pay for fuel out of its meager resources.  Although 
the city's port is the source of the high volume of trash, 
the port's generation of much-needed employment far outweighs 
the negative impact. 
 
Employment/Commerce 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Unemployment in Miragoane is high.  City Hall reps 
worry there are too many young adults who have ''nothing to 
do.''  They expressed concern that dissatisfaction with 
municipal and legislative authorities seems to be growing. 
(Note:  National unemployment is estimated at over 60 
percent. End note)  Jeanty acknowledged the city receives 
proceeds from taxes levied on high-duty items, like cars and 
trucks that off-load at its port.  (Note:  He did not specify 
whether these were central government or local taxes.  End 
note)  In theory, Jeanty said, the city should receive 80 
percent of business taxes collected locally by the Income Tax 
Authority (DGI), and 20 percent of taxes collected should be 
remitted to the government. He was unable to quantify the 
amount of taxes received by the Mairie in the past year.  He 
credited the port with creating employment for day laborers, 
who are often hired to off-load cargo.  He said the port 
''has saved Miragoane.''  Unsurprisingly, a drive-by of the 
local market showed a typical Haitian city scene:  local 
 
PORT AU PR 00001686  002 OF 004 
 
 
merchants selling used clothing and shoes, as well as canned 
goods, cooking oil and cosmetics. 
 
Port 
---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Poloff toured the port with the directors of the 
port and customs.  One ship docked at the port was filled 
with automobiles, light trucks, and mattresses.  According to 
port director Romel Cacique, who previously worked at the 
National Port Authority (APN) in Port-au-Prince, port volume 
in Miragoane rivals Haiti's number two port (Cap Haitien in 
the north).  Miragoane is one of Haiti's major ports for the 
import of used goods, such as clothing, shoes, appliances and 
cars, which arrive from Miami and other U.S. cities.  He 
predicted the port might soon surpass Cap Haitien once 
MINUSTAH completes a larger, more modern dock near the 
current cargo unloading site (a former Reynolds Aluminum 
plant).  Both directors denied major concerns about illegal 
cargo arriving in Miragoane by boat.  Customs director Odly 
Dubreus said his customs officers were ''very vigilant.'' 
 
Utilities 
--------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Miragoane receives what little electricity it gets 
from a power plant in Petit Goave, 35 kms to the east. 
Jeanty said the city receives a maximum of three hours of 
power per day.  There is usually no power at night in the 
city, and surrounding rural areas receive no power at all. 
There are only ten fixed telephone land lines in the entire 
city of Miragoane -- five for offices including the Mayor's 
office, the Port Authority and the police.  Wealthy residents 
hold the other five lines.  Jeanty praised the prevalence of 
Digicel wireless services, but criticized cell phone company 
Voila as too expensive for most of the population.  There are 
two cisterns in the city, which provide potable water to the 
majority of residents. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Jeanty related that the region's residents complain 
that their lives have been ''devastated'' by the hurricanes 
of August/September, and that they have received no help, 
especially in the rural areas.  He added that during the 
floods, people expected that ASECs (Communal Section 
Assemblies) and CASECS (Communal Section Administrative 
Councils) would help get emergency assistance to people in 
need.  However, none arrived, so the Mairie now faces 
credibility problems with its constituent communities. 
 
Disaster Assistance 
------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Mayoral reps say the commune and adjacent rural 
areas were hard hit by flooding in August/September. 
According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior's 
Civil Protection Department (DPC), the hurricanes caused 
fourteen deaths, and damaged and destroyed 521 and 72 homes, 
respectively.  Figures from the Mayor's office put the number 
of families rendered homeless at 600, with 389 people 
currently living in shelters.  Jeanty said much livestock was 
lost, but he had no precise figures.  Jeanty said the GOH 
provided 30,000 HTG  (equivalent to USD 750) to each family 
who had lost a member in the storms.  Jeanty lamented that 
''a lot of aid is going to the Southeast Department to 
cities, like Jacmel and Cote de Fer,'' implying that his city 
was being denied its fair share.  He criticized Prime 
Minister Michele Pierre-Louis for promising but not 
delivering 5 million HTG (USD 125,000) to each of Haiti's 140 
or so communes for help to rebuild or repair houses. 
 
Decentralization 
---------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Jeanty and Cadet characterized decentralization as 
''meaningless'' absent real authority and funding for local 
government.  The central government controls services and 
fiscal support for municipalities, but they claimed it gives 
disproportionate support to the capital and immediately 
surrounding areas.  They said that communes want greater 
administrative autonomy, but that municipalities desperately 
need funding for projects that generate employment, for 
services such as electricity and sanitation, and for 
construction or rehabilitation of municipal offices.  Jeanty 
explained that many public offices (e.g., civil tribunal and 
social affairs) are located in private residences due to lack 
of public office space and funds to rehabilitate existing 
 
PORT AU PR 00001686  003 OF 004 
 
 
offices. 
 
Elections Preparations 
---------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) When questioned on the city's preparations for 
partial Senate elections announced for next April, Jeanty and 
Cadet were pessimistic the commune's residents would 
participate in large numbers.  The mayor's office recently 
received correspondence from the Provisional Electoral 
Council (CEP) announcing the November 24 competition in 
Port-au-Prince for jobs in the Departmental Electoral 
Councils (BEDs) and Communal Electoral Councils (BECs), but 
they perceive there is little enthusiasm locally for these 
elections.  The Lespwa, Fanmis Lavalas, and OPL parties are 
active in the commune.  Jeanty observed that OPL's chairman, 
Edgar LeBlanc Fils, is based in Miragoane. 
 
----------- 
Petit Goave 
----------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Poloff heard similar themes during a visit the same 
day to Petit Goave, a coastal commune including twelve 
communal sections, located approximately 68 kilometers to the 
west of Port-au-Prince in the West Department (which includes 
Port au Prince).  Mayor Marc Roland Justal and Deputy Mayor 
Emmanuella Osselin complained there was little support from 
the central government for municipal services (especially 
sanitation) for the population of 165,000.  (Comment: 
According to the Mayor's office, the population figure is 
only for the commune proper and two communal sections nearest 
the town center -- sections 11 and 12 -- not for the 
remaining ten sections, as there were no figures. End 
comment) 
 
¶13. (SBU) Mayor Marc Roland Justal said the city does not 
have equipment to keep the city clean -- uncollected trash 
and canals overflowing because they are clogged with trash 
are big problems.  He has few funds to pay salaries, and 
faces current salary arrears of 4-5 months.  While two NGOs 
-- the International Office for Migration/IOM and Cooperative 
Housing Foundation/CHF -- offered in 2007 to construct a 
plant to convert trash into propane gas, the Mairie could not 
make use of the opportunity because it had no trucks to haul 
the trash to a plant. 
 
Lingering Impact of Natural Disasters 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Justal and Osselin made clear their continuing 
concern for residents affected by the most recent hurricanes. 
 They claimed that after Cabaret (just north of 
Port-au-Prince), Petit-Goave was the most affected commune in 
the West Department.  The Department of Civil Protection 
(DPC) figures say there are 2,103 affected families, 23 
fatalities, one person missing, 97 houses destroyed, and 
2,006 homes damaged. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Most people in the countryside rely on agriculture 
to earn a living, cultivating primarily rice and potatoes. 
Justal said floods had devastated this agricultural-based 
economy, sweeping away houses and carrying away livestock. 
Rural folk have begun moving to the city because ''they have 
nothing'' where they are.  The hurricanes aggravated an 
already precarious situation, making it more difficult for 
people to survive and straining the municipality's limited 
resources. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Justal also criticized the Prime Minister for not 
following through on her promise to provide 5 million gourdes 
(USD 125,000) to each commune for post-hurricane housing 
construction and rehabilitation.  He criticized relief 
agencies and the DPC for excluding municipal leadership from 
the distribution of relief supplies.  He complained that 
Port-au-Prince should have given ASECs and CASECs offices and 
storage facilities to expedite distribution of supplies for 
rural areas. 
 
Politics 
-------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Justal and Osselin indicate they are both members 
of Grand Front Centre Droit (GFCD), a local political party 
and the commune's largest with a claimed 60 percent 
following.  Lespwa and Lavalas are also active in the commune 
 
PORT AU PR 00001686  004 OF 004 
 
 
with a 22 percent and 18 percent following, respectively. 
(Note:  They presumably referred to the 2007 local elections 
for these statistics.  End note) In a brief discussion of the 
partial Senate elections announced for April, Justal said 
matter-of-factly:  ''We are not concerned about the election 
process because we know the population will not re-elect 
us.'' 
 
¶18. (SBU) Justal believed prospective voters were both 
focused on basic survival and angry that local elected 
leadership did not come immediately to their aid once the 
hurricanes hit.  He said the community would hold the Mayor's 
office and national deputies from the region accountable 
during the next round of elections, whenever they were held. 
Rumors were circulating, warning deputies not to campaign or 
to risk ''harm.'' 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶19. (SBU) Local government in Haiti continues to struggle to 
achieve basic viability.  Visits to Miragoane and Petit Goave 
spotlighted difficulties of devolving power from 
Port-au-Prince to the communes in the absence of two 
indispensable factors:  1) adequate funding, both from 
Port-au-Prince and the local tax base, and 2) central 
government interest in empowering local government.  Both 
Mairies complained of a dearth of financial and material 
resources to deliver basic services -- to pick up trash, 
clean canals, and repair streets.  They resent their 
dependence on Port-au-Prince and accuse the central 
government of a lack of true interest in outlying communes. 
They point to the central government's starving them of 
direct assistance as evidence of the over-concentration of 
power in the capital.  Interestingly, mayors from neither 
city mentioned the need for greater authority to raise 
revenue locally. 
 
¶20. (SBU) The stress of post-hurricane recovery has amplified 
this tension.  Municipal leaders in much of Haiti, in tandem 
with their elected representatives in the Senate and Chamber 
of Deputies, saw the August-September natural disaster as an 
opportunity to make political capital by visible involvement 
in disaster relief.  Most have been disappointed, as both the 
central government and international donors with their NGO 
implementers, fearing corruption and adhering to strict 
procedures, have kept post-hurricane recovery efforts largely 
in their own hands.  Both Mayors criticized the government 
and local and international relief agencies for excluding 
them from identification of disaster-affected families and 
the distribution of food and relief supplies.  Including 
local leaders in disaster relief, they opine, would have 
enhanced their image in the eyes of the public -- an image 
damaged over the past year due to outcries over the high cost 
of living.  The ASECs and CASECs could have been further 
empowered, they argue, if more GOH and donor attention was 
given to their role as community-based representatives. 
TIGHE