VZCZCXRO5385
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0079/01 0261918
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261918Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9430
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000079 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
STATE FOR INR/IAA 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAR/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON HA PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: HAITI'S LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:  MORE HELP NEEDED FOR 
DEVELOPMENT 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) Local governments in Haiti face challenges in securing 
sufficient revenue for their cities' key priorities: 
development, urban and land use planning, and infrastructure 
development.  In a recent lunch debate, several metropolitan 
area mayors blamed the central government for inattention to 
local needs and not providing the financial and human 
resources required to create jobs, repair roads and clean up 
streets.  Mayors characterized the national government as 
unfamiliar with local government problems.  Municipalities 
resent being denied the resources to exercise meaningful 
fiscal and local development autonomy.  The mayors also 
criticized donors who undertake local program and project 
initiatives without prior consultation with mayors' offices. 
All agreed it is imperative that the parliament pass the bill 
on decentralization that will define the rights and 
responsibilities of municipalities.  End summary. 
 
Central Government Stranglehold 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a January 14 lunch debate on local governance, 
hosted by the Ambassador, the mayors of Cabaret, 
Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Carrefour, Petion-ville, and Tabarre 
argued that the national government has a stranglehold on 
their finances.  Tabarre Mayor Theodat -- a former Director 
General of the Income Tax Authority (DG/I)-- criticized 
government authorities for delays in disbursements of funds, 
including revenue generated and collected in their 
jurisdictions.  Mayor Parent of Petionville noted that 
municipalities could not pressure tax evaders to pay up, 
since tax collection authority rests with the DG/I.  ''DG/I 
is the reason we are poor,'' she said. Parent resents what 
she calls the ''tutelary'' relationship the government 
(especially the Ministry of the Interior) imposes on 
communes. 
 
Autonomy:  Meaningless with No Money 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Given the unresponsiveness of the central 
government, several mayors complained that donors decide on 
and implement with NGOs projects that directly affect their 
municipalities without consulting mayors.  One mayor 
specifically referenced difficulty with one USAID partner, 
but said he had no difficulty with another of USAID's 
partners.  Mayors suggested that donors negotiate projects 
directly with mayors in the targeted districts.  All agreed 
that construction projects that hired local labor would 
create stability in their municipalities.  The Ambassador and 
USAID Director referred to the USD 14 million local 
government project (LOKAL-ARD) as an example of USG interest 
in helping municipalities. Several mayors said that passage 
of the decentralization law, which USAID assisted in 
drafting, was urgently needed to define rights and 
responsibilities of every level of local government.  (Note: 
Interior Minister Paul-Antoine Bien Aime made the same point 
to Ambassador in their January 21 meeting. End note) 
 
Resources Critical to Urban Development 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tabarre Mayor Theodat said human resources (i.e., 
the staff to carry out communes' responsibilities), 
infrastructure development and job creation were critical to 
development of his district.  Theodat worried that haphazard 
construction would be impossible to halt without a land use 
and zoning plan.  (Note:  Theodat has appealed privately for 
donor assistance in preparing an urban land use plan to guide 
development in his district. End note) Port-au-Prince Mayor 
Jasmin criticized the government for lacking an ''urban 
policy.'' He gave an example of the central government 
providing his district three garbage trucks, but no drivers 
or money for fuel or maintenance as proof that the government 
is ''out-of-touch'' with the needs of local governments. 
Mayor Parent agreed, saying the absence of financial and 
human resources to meet constituents' needs left mayors 
feeling like ''good for nothing children standing in front of 
their parents.''  Mayor Parent also raised the concern, and 
other mayors concurred, that the lack of resources 
constrained their ability to plan for and mitigate the impact 
of flooding and other natural disasters. 
 
Comment 
 
PORT AU PR 00000079  002 OF 002 
 
 
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¶5. (SBU) The mayors all defined autonomy as the central 
government providing them more funds.  While their need for 
money is undeniable, none of the mayors spoke up for true 
municipal autonomy, whereby the local government levies and 
collects its own taxes, and finances itself largely through 
local revenues. While municipal leaders resent the 
controlling hand of Port-au-Prince, most of them merely want 
that hand to be more generous.  They argue that timing of 
central government transfers is unpredictable and 
insufficient to meet local needs.  Ministries of Interior and 
Finance representatives counter that the central government 
only delays transmittal of funds to municipalities in the 
absence of a transparent local budget. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Haiti's constitution and the current legal framework 
governing decentralization (Loi Cadre) fail to clearly define 
the roles, power and responsibilities of local government 
entities and their leaders.  This has often led to confusion 
and prompts local officials to assert that their authority is 
only ''on paper.'' In reality, their authority is limited by 
central government control over municipal purse strings. 
Mayors and Minister of Interior Bien Aime agree on the 
necessity of passing the revised decentralization law (Projet 
de Loi Etablissant le Cadre d'Organisation et de 
Fonctionnement des Collectivites Territoriales), which is on 
Parliament's 2009 legislative agenda for review in the coming 
months. 
SANDERSON