Government - Haiti Observer Blog

Have you ever wondered while we are often confronted with attitudes, passivity or resistance when we go to ask for government services in Haiti? It's simple, the public employees are incompetent in the position held. A good number of them don't have a clue what you are talking about or if they do know what you want, are unable to help.

According to Jean Wilberson Timothee, Secretary of State for literacy in Haiti, close to 5,000 public employees in Haiti can't either read or write.

I wouldn't be surprise if some of these employees are managers

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In a Decree issued on December 16, 2015, President Martelly created a commission called Commission of Electoral Evaluation. This mission of this new commission is to guarantee tramsparency, credibility and legitimity of the electoral process. The Commission is composed as follows :

Mr Rony Desroches
Mgr Patrick Aris
Mr Joseph Emmanuel Charlemagne (Manno)
Mrs Euvonie Georges Auguste
Mr Anthony Pascal (Kompe Filo)

Article 3 of this Decree gives both candidates qualified for the second round the possibility to appoint a representative to attend the proceedings of the Commission

Haitian Kreyol:

Nouvo dekrè pou kreyasyon yon Komisyon Evalyasyon Elektoral

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As per a new decree published in the issue of 205 of the Official Gazette "Le Moniteur" on the Civil Retirement Pension plan, certain modifications offering additional benefits, have been made for the eligible government employees and the members of the government. As per the new rules, some of the senior members of the Government would get monthly pension in the following manner: President of the Republic 250,000 gourdes (US$ 4450); Prime Minister 150,000 gourdes (US$ 2670); Senator 58 years old (with less than 60 months of service) 15,000 gourdes (US$ 267); Deputy (with less than 60 months of service) 12,000 gourdes (US$ 215). The pensions will be disbursed from the Treasury. The new decree would improve the benefits prescribed under two earlier decrees, viz. Decree of February 18, 2011 and 6 October 2004. In comparison, the monthly pensions of top government representatives in other neighboring countries are as follows: President Barrack Obama, US$16,800; Prime Ministers (Trinidad and Tobago) US$8,000, Prime Ministers in Jamaica, roughly US$3,500; President of Guyana US$ 6,000.

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"Ti Manman Cheri", or "Dear Little Mother", is a program of Haitian government, which started with initial sponsorship of the Venezuelan government ($15 million or £9.5 million) in 2012. The scheme used to pay $20 (£13) cash credit per month to the mother who sends their children schools regularly. To ensure its sustainability and effectiveness, on Tuesday, October 6th, 2015 at the Alpha Hotel, in the presence of the Mayor of the town of Aquin, Gilbert Buteau, the Director of Fight against Poverty of Fund for Economic and Social Assistance (FAES) has renamed and launched a revised version of the earlier program as "Ti Manman Cheri Tou Nèf (New)". From now on, each pre-registered mother engaged in selected industries will be entitled to parent credit up to 5,000 gourdes, through a micro credit bureau by creating individual groups termed as "Deposit Solidarity Group" (GCS) consisting three to six members.

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After more than 8 months as Minister of Communication, Rotchild Francois Jr says enough is enough. Although it appears that the decision was hard to make, the Minister of Communication has decided to leave his position after ongoing insults, unwelcome jokes that some would qualify as tasteless made by President Michel Martelly on his personality.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Evans Paul on September 15, Rotchild Francois Jr explained that the current working environment prevents him from doing his job with professionalism, something he had spend his entire career building.

As you may recollect, during the last CARIFESTA event in the Champ de Mars recently President Michel Martelly publicly ridiculed the function of Minister of Communication presently held by Rotchild Francois Jr. The president stated that Rotchild lies every day.

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This is the day that many have been waiting for. Beside marking the anniversary of the 2010 earthquake that took the lives of more than 200,000 people in Haiti, this historic day is also supposed to mark the beginning of a new era of political crisis in Haiti.

We are now at the beginning of a time in Haiti that looks very dark. No functional Legislative power, no judicial power, the issue of Prime Minister is unclear.?

Where do you think we are heading at this time?

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People in Haiti or anywhere in the world now do have access to public services in Haiti. They can either dial the unique number 8674 or visit the website: www.servicespublics.gouv.ht. Several government officers are upbeat about the realization of this project that was financed by IDB to the tune of 900,000 US dollars.

The objective:
The Administrative Information Centre (CRA) is free computerized system for all citizens as users of public services. It will be used as a gateway to government ministries and public organizations. It provides general administrative information on these institutions to citizens who request them either by telephone, Internet or locally

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The Haitian government, as part of reform efforts, has modernized its administrative services to better serve the citizenry. It now has computerized services citizens can request by telephone, the Internet, or at state or local offices. The government, under this new system, has a portal on its home page, which directs users to whatever department they need services from. This new system now enables the government to offer quality service by making information from government and public agencies easier to obtain.

The new department, the Administrative Information Center (AIC), provides its services for free. Before the AIC was built by GENINOV, a Haitian-Canadian partnership, citizen complaints about government and public institution services was chronic. Complaints focused on the difficulty of trying to maneuver the byzantine process to get services needed, and the frustration of a lack of information on how to proceed to access needed services. Office of Management and Human Resources (OMRH) General Coordinator, Uder Antoine, recognized it had become necessary to establish a modern system to meet the needs of the public to access and utilize state and local services.

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President Michel Martelly as well as Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe have been busy, traveling the country. They are often met with fans, people who have approved their job performance so far. Many in the general public believe that the Martelly-Lamothe team is in a campaign mode and actually running their campagn for the next general election,while the campaign season is not officially open

If that is the case, would you say that this is not fair to the opposition who can not campaign until then?

The Martelly-Lamothe may have the advantage at this time, however, it may not hold for long. Just think for a moment that Laurent Lamothe is the chosen person for Martelly, the one that Michel Martelly will support in the next election to replace him.

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The short passage of Emmanuel Menard as head of the CEP will be marked by the person selected to replace him. Attorney Fritzto Canton, lawyer of former Dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier has the honor to assume this position. He was appointed by President Michel Martelly this week.

So what is going on?

Since the nomination of Attorney Fritzto Canton, the critic has not stopped. In fact, if you listen to some comments you would think we are already back into a Dictatorship in Haiti. Some had signaled that this change has strengthen the grip of the neo-Duvalier regime on the electoral machine.

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