Carrefour - Haiti Observer Blog

President Martelly presided over the launching of the new community care center, located in Arcachon in the commune of Carrefour. The director of the new medical facility is Dr. Raoul Pierre-Louis. Present for the opening ceremonies were Minister of Health, Dr. Florence Guillaume, Carrefour mayor; Jude Machado Pierre; deputy mayor, Elie Blaise; Cuba Ambassador to Haiti, Ricardo Napoles; and B razil Ambassador to Haiti, Jose Luis Machado e Costa.

Martelly praised the accomplishment of the multiple partnership that has priorly built two satellite hospitals in Bon Repos and Beudet, Ary Bardes Hospital.

State-of-the-art Arcachon Hospital is designed to provide health care to 60,000 residents. It is a 61-bed facility, offering standard services in internal medicine; orthopedics; pediatrics; obstetrics/gynecology. Operating rooms for maternity, in-patient/out-patent surgery; pre- and neo-natal care.

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The community of Mahotière, through different programs put on by the government as well as Food for the Poor, has found itself a new lease on life through improvements to its road infrastructure, housing, food production and efforts to combat the crippling effects of deforestation in the area.

The road work changed not just the physical landscape of the town, turning its once dusty, unpaved street into the industrialized Mahotière 75, but it also changed the perception of the town of Mahotière into one that was ready and open for business. The town's Mayor, Jude Edouard Pierre has stated that there has been an increase in the tax revenue, and that Carrefour has seen a steady recording of small traders in Mahotière. Betting on the favorable changes to continue, Mayor Pierre wishes to file for a new project to continue the work of the previous one for 2010-2011 which has brought them an increase in the area's home property values as well as the rejuvenation of the town's nightlife activity.

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Carrefour is a residential commune that is located in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Spread over an area of just above 60 square miles, Carrefour was founded on May 1st in the year 1813. The region celebrated its bicentennial year a few days ago. With a population of close to 400,000, the community of Carrefour houses people who share similarities in a lot of things, especially interests, possessions, resources and income.

While there is not too many things that Carrefour famous for, there is however one thing that puts this region on the map and in the news. It was the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010. While this kind of an earthquake would not have made too much of an impact in some developed regions, over 40% of the buildings in Carrefour were destroyed. One of the buildings that had the heaviest impact was the city hospital.

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AthlHaiti, the poorest country in western hemisphere is barely known for its bodybuilders. The country only has a handful of gyms of which only a few are air conditioned. The air conditioned gyms are reserved for workers of foreign aid and the elite class of Haiti while those Haitians who live on modest means only have access to outdoor gyms, none of which are air conditioned.

In a very rare competition, these handful of bodybuilders from the country managed to get a chance to show off their muscles and cuts. 10 bodybuilders managed to get into the competition among which, 5 were in heavyweight category and rest in medium-weight category. The competition was held in Carrefour district's athletic center. Carrefour district is located just outside Port-au-Prince. The athletes were cheered by a few dozen of supporters. On the tunes of American pop music, these athletes danced like robots and they flexed their triceps, biceps, lats and pecs.

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It seems that the Haitian government has a comprehensive plan to alleviate traffic problem in the Haitian Capital of Port-au-Prince. According to information retrieved from Le Nouvelliste, a major newspaper in the country, the Department of Public Works is planning to build major infrastructure in Port-au-Prince.

In an effort to eliminate bottlenecks and traffic jam in specific points such as Carrefour and Delmas, the Department of Public Works will build motorways in these municipalities.

According to the same source, funding has already been allocated for the project with work expected to start soon.

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In 2004, according to key government statistics, 20% of the roads in Haiti were made up of highways. According to a recent announcement by the Minister of Public Works Transport and Communication (MTPTC), Jacques Rousseau, at the Council of Ministers, that number will have a slight, yet significant, bump with the plans to construct two new highways.

Funded by the Venezuelan gift that keeps on giving, PetroCaribe, the $30 million dollar venture will erect Elevated Highway Interchanges at Carrefour and Delmas. The plans are set to start in April, and with billboards to be erected announcing the details to the public post-haste, and in the most effective manner for the people who traverse these two areas and are so, set to benefit most from the project, the two new highways are expected to greatly relieve the congestion which grows to epidemic proportions on a daily basis along both commutes. The heavy traffic also contributes to the poor state of the current roadway, as the same government statistics show that 80% of the network is said to be in either bad or very bad condition.

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The town of Carrefour in the Arrondissement of Port-au-Prince was once recognized as the leading tourist destination in the country. A lot of tourists used to come to this suburb of Port-au-Prince during the leadership of Jean Claude Duvalier. It was a prime spot for tourists, making it popular and boosting its potential. However, the time came that it lost its former glory. When Duvalier's reign ended, the city's tourism potential also lost its spark.

Things got even worse when a 7-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, devastating many towns and cities, including Carrefour. Because Carrefour was close to the capital, which was greatly affected by the disaster, the town also received a hard blow. Some 40% of all the town's buildings were destroyed, while the supply of electricity and other basic services were cut down, paralyzing the town.

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Haiti has been included in the list of kidnapping capitals in the world. Even if the country has recorded a decline in its kidnapping cases in the past, the number remains very high. Kidnappers in Haiti do not select victims based on their gender, age, nationality or race. As long as they have the opportunity to snatch someone, they will.

There are areas in Haiti that one must avoid due to security and safety concerns. Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, has a high crime rate. Slum areas in the capital, including Cite Soleil, Carrefour, Martissant, and the Delmas road area are hot spots for criminals. The same goes for urban route Nationale #1, the Boulevard Toussaint L'Ouverture and the American Road. Even public transportations are not safe because criminals, including kidnappers, can attack people in these areas.

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Haiti's 2010 earthquake, which shook the country to its foundations, especially Port-au-Prince, displaced tens of thousands of Haitians. They were reduced to living in the streets, without adequate sanitation. Nine months later in October of 2010, a cholera epidemic began, and has continued afflicting the poorest segment of Haitians, many of whom remain living in tent cities.

The Ministry of Public Sanitation and the Population has recorded 581,952 cases of cholera as of July 2012, with a 7,455 death tally since October 2010. A noticeable rise in cholera cases have been reported since early 2012 in Centre, Nord, and Port-au-Prince. Port-au-Prince neighborhoods reporting cases of cholera include: Carrefour, Cité Soleil, Delmas, Kenscoff, Petionville, and Tabarre.

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Every crisis tends to be much bigger if it takes place in Haiti and that holds true as well for the last tropical storm Isaac. According to the latest report from Haiti, the death toll from Tropical Storm Isaac has jumped to 19. In the meantime, it was reported that only two people died in the neighboring Dominican Republic after they were swept away in a river.

Again as you may recall, the 2010 earthquake did not kill over 200,000 people in Haiti; their homes did!

It was reported that three minors were among the dead, a 10-year-old girl who died when a wall collapsed onto her home in Thomazeau, a boy struck by a falling tree in the capital suburb of Carrefour, and another boy who was electrocuted in the northern city of Gonaives.

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