Coteaux - Haiti Observer Blog

Cote Sud Initiative to Bring Electricity Service to Southern Region. Haiti's first electric cooperative, Electric Cooperative Borough Coteaux (ECBC) is being administered by the UN Coalition, the Cote Sud Initiative, for the district of Cote, which includes the communes of Roche-a-Bateau, Coteaux, and Port-a-Piment. The ECBC convened its first meeting to elect its Board of Directors (BOD).

The BOD is charged with handling a power grid that consumes 125-135 kilowatts of solar power and 200 kilowatts of generator-produced diesel. The power load will provide electricity to 580 members of the electric cooperative and service approximately 1,600 homes. It also has a mandate to construct and renovate low and medium voltage lines in rural areas.

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Port-à-Piment is a metro area, located in the Southwest Department in Haiti, part of the Coteaux Arrondissement. A serene town, it was originally developed as an unincorporated area first known as Prickly, established in 1700. Two communes comprise Port-à-Piment, Paricot and Broomsticks, and the population numbers 36,800 residents.

Port-à-Piment has a fairly well-developed infrastructure by Haitian standards. It contains more than half a dozen elementary schools, a high school, and two universities. But these institutions are run with crumbling buildings, a scant number of textbooks, and too many students to each teacher. Healthcare services could also be improved. They are provided by a single medical facility staffed by three physicians, two nurses, five medical assistants and a lab worker. A Public Health and Population Department is soon to be opened.

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Haiti President Michel Martelly inducted Jacques Letang, President of the Bar of Coteaux, as the newly-appointed Representative of the Bars Federation of Haiti (FBH). He will provide legal counsel to the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), in place of Nehemy Joseph, who recently resigned.

Letang, also Vice President of the Bar Federation of Haiti, has a double Masters of Law degree, issued by the Université Catholique of Lyon. After earning his advanced law degrees, he has held the office of Magistrate, recently becoming a partner in newly-established law firm, Avocats & Avocats LP, International Lawyers Group.

At the swearing-in ceremony, those in attendance included presidents of Parliament's upper and lower houses, Simon Dieuseul Desras, and Jean Tolbert Alexis; Minister of Justice, Jean Renel Sanon, and CSPJ President, Me Arnel Alexis Joseph.

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The town of Coteaux is the capital of the Arrondisement of Coteaux in Haiti's Sud Department. However, it is not the only reason why many people throng to the town every now and then. A high number of believers often go to the town in order to pray to the Miraculous Virgin in Coteaux.

It is believed that the Virgin hears and grants the prayers of believers, especially women. In order to reach the shrine where the Miraculous Virgin can be found, people have to pay a pilgrimage and climb a 500-step stair. Going to the shrine through the long stair is almost the same as scaling the popular Great Wall of China.

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Saint-Jean-du-Sud, a cityship in the Port-Salut Arrondissement, under the Sud Department of Haiti, is home to 23,870 inhabitants. Located at sea level, it lies on the southern-most tip of the Tiburon Peninsula near its western end. Three divisions make up Saint-Jean-du-Sud: Debouchette, Tapion, and Trichet. A cluster of villages lies close by Saint-Jean-du-Sud: Coateaux, La Ferme, Durant, Bel Air, and Petite Riviere.

Farming is one of the primary income-generators of the small village of Saint-Jean-du-Sud, with bananas and pineapples producing the largest crop-yields. The farming community is close-knit, sharing resources among themselves to derive higher incomes. Another source of income for the village is fishing and the operation of fish hatcheries.

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