Defense

Haiti 16/6: MINUSTAH Begins Rehabilitation of Charlemagne Peralte Road

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Scheduled to last three months, the work being done by the Military Engineering of Chile and Ecuador (CHICUENGCOY) of MINUSTAH is to rehabilitate the Charlemagne Peralte road as part of the 16/6 project operated by the United Nations Office for Project Support Services (UNOPS).

CHICUENGCOY started working on the road, a main access between Petion-ville and Morne Hercule, since last week, March 25 and in order not to obstruct traffic they work in hours of low traffic, as reported by the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH).

One hundred members of the community of Morne Hercule also participated in the work as part of the "cash for work" program.

Once this work is completed, UNOPS, the community, the City of Petion-Ville and the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (MTPTC), will take charge of "surface layers" of the system improvements drainage and sidewalk construction.

"The community of Morne Hercule was ready, former residents returned to live in the neighborhood and there was the first community platform validated grouping including one representative from each predefined area (health, religion, women, socio-professional artists, youth, etc.). They came to hold discussions with the community to identify their own needs and choose their priorities," said the official of 16/6 Communications at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Charlito Louissaint, a structure also involved in the project.

The rehabilitation of the Charlemagne Peralte road, as explained by the Project for Community Infrastructure to UNOPS, Theodore Achilles, will "improve road safety for both motorists and pedestrians. Traffic will be smoother, the path of water flow controlled, garbage collected and access to emergency services like firefighters and ambulances will be facilitated. " And, he added, "it is also planned to install solar street lights."

After Morne Hercule, other parts of the 16/6 Project, including Morne Lazare, always in Petion-Ville should have the same type of rehabilitation work.

The proposed 16/6 has been designed to rehabilitate 16 neighborhoods to relocate residents of six large camps in the metropolitan area. Launched in August 2011, it will cost some 78 million [US] including 30 million [US] allocated by the Fund for the Reconstruction of Haiti (HRF) which mobilizes, coordinates and allocates including contributions from bilateral donors to finance priority reconstruction projects such as defined by the Haitian Government.