Cite Soleil - Haiti Observer Blog

The plans for a new national soccer stadium in Haiti, the Phoenix Stadium, is moving ahead and this is what the new stadium will look like when work is complete.

The project to build a new soccer stadium in Haiti has been in the making following the 2012 earthquake. Two principal actor in trying to give Haiti its first National soccer stadium are Boby Duval who is the founder and director of the Cité Soleil nonprofit L'Athlétique d'Haïti.

Based on the plan, the new Haiti National Soccer Stadium will include 12,000 seats. The Phoenix Stadium in Haiti will also include academy and community garden.

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Three years ago, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake pummeled Haiti. The reconstruction of a country with a perennial place on the index of failed states has been overwhelming to contemplate. But in spite of this, Haiti is about to receive its first-ever national soccer stadium.

Private investor Morad Fareed, once a player for the Palestinian soccer team and a New York property developer, has partnered with Boby Duval, also an ex-soccer player in Haiti. Duval established and runs L'Athlétique d'Haiti, a Cité Soleil not-for-profit organization. The partners have hired architect Carlos Zapata to design and build the 12,000-seat Phoenix Stadium. The stadium site will also house a private academy and public garden.

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From the earthquake massacre in January 2010, Haiti is constantly trying to rebuild of what was lost and bring some new hope for the Haiti people.

With donation camps and mining projects, Haiti government is trying to bring some economic benefit to the people. Also, a zeal and vigor of the people for playing soccer has proposed plans for the first professional soccer stadium in the country.

The name of this soccer stadium will be Phoenix stadium. It is said to be built in Cité Soleil, which has been designated as a red zone area by the United States as it is a poverty-stricken town in needs of economic development.

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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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There was a case of smuggling in Cite Soleil that will soon be coming to a head. In a country as desperately poor as Haiti, contraband or the transportation of illegal goods, also known as smuggling, constitutes a major portion of crimes committed in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Recently, a crack-down on the crime of smuggling has been initiated at the Institutional Committee, in the office of Prime Minister-Elect Laurent Lamothe.

The genesis of the crack-down began when Director General Fresnel Jean-Baptiste of the General Administration of Customs (AGD) sent his agents to lock-down a warehouse in Cite Soleil, whose contents held a wealth of smuggled merchandise from outside the country that had snuck through Port-au-Prince customs. Among the items discovered were 74 bags of frozen peas, 1,500 bags of milled corn, 250 cases of Mazola oil, and 495 gallons of Alberto oil.

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One company that wants to make a difference in Haiti is Macy's.

The American corporation has developed the "Heart of Haiti" Art project in an effort to support the Haitian artists affected by the Haiti earthquake of 2010 to become self sufficient.

What a gesture from a big corporation.

My experiences and all I have so far heard about big corporations is totally contrary to what Macy's is currently doing in Haiti.

Haven't you heard that bid corporations have no heart; that they only care about the bottom line.

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