Cité Soleil is a very densely populated slum on the Northern edge of Port-au-Prince. It is generally regarded as one of the poorest, roughest and most dangerous areas of the capital. Most of its 200,000 residents are children and young adults. The access to water is inadequate, only some 25 per cent have access to drinking water. The area has some drainage canals that are open sewers, filled with stagnant waters and garbage and often flooding the tiny houses. One of the most important canals is called Saint-Georges. It is 1.2 km long and when it floods, more than 70,000 persons will be affected.
Mariani and Savane Pistache are among the most vulnerable areas to flooding and landslides in Port-au-Prince. Their populations are estimated at some 50,000, with most living in semi-permanent structures. The mountainsides above these squatter dwellings are severely deforested from the uncontrolled lumbering and the continuing unfettered construction. This leads to ever bigger and denser shanty towns. With the onset of the hurricane season and no mitigation activities foreseen, habitations will be damaged and some might even fall into the ravines. Under these circumstances, as many as 20,000 people risk displacement and others even their lives.
The PAHO (Pan-American Health Organization)/WHO project “Water for all in Cité Soleil” started in July 2006. About 40 per cent of the total funds received (US$ 50,000) have already been disbursed mainly for i.e.c. (information, education, communication) material and reagents for lab water analysis. Furthermore, in the framework of this CERF funded project two agreements have been signed: the first for a study on the water quality and a home survey, the second to support the rehabilitation of the water distribution system and to train the local population in water system maintenance.
The IOM project for Mariani and Savane Pistache (totaling US$ 270,000) involved ravine control through labour-intensive construction of dry rock walls covering 13,000 m of ravines. 1,000 unskilled labourers, 50 team leaders and 25 overseers were needed. Within five weeks, 769 dry rock walls were built, 10 m apart from each other; 7,690 m of ravines could be protected and controlled; 10,245 m3 of rocks have so far been used to build these walls. After the rainstorms in July, the residents of Mariani noted that the dry rock walls constructed under the project greatly enhanced their protection. Unlike after previous rainstorms, there was no flooding and the water flowing from the mountains did not carry as much dirt as previously. These positive results further heightened the level of community appreciation for and participation in the project.
The purpose of the UNOPS emergency project was to reduce immediate hazardous health risks to the population in Cité Soleil. The funds of US$ 230,000 are used to clean one of the major drainage canals crossing the area by containing the spreading of diseases that are present in the stagnant water, and by reducing the risk of flooding which would affect some 70,000 residents living along the canal. CERF funds helped to rent heavy machinery in order to ensure major earth works.
[Last update: September 2006]
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