Jalousie - Haiti Observer Blog

This is the phrase that I have been hearing all this week regarding the protest that took place last Thursday in Petion-Ville where several thousands of people were asking for the removal of President Michel Martelly from office. Actually the notion "Dessalines visiting Petion" was used to refer to the Race issue in Haiti once again. In a sense, Dessalines represents the Black, poor, uneducated Haitians while Petion, represents the elite, mulato, educated, affluent Haitians.

The anti-government protest got out of control after demonstrators made a rare trip to Petionville. Some opposed to the demonstration threw stones at the marcher and Police fired tear gas to break it.

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The citizens of Jalousie are frustrated by a government of Haiti (GOH) project that is ignoring the real problems the community faces: no water or sanitation, and a secondary fault the area sits on.

Instead, the GOH is spending $6 million USD, some of it to paint Jalousie houses in pretty colors. The efforts to turn the slum into "a fashionable suburb" are to give hotel guests facing it a pleasing view. The first phase of the project has been completed just in time for the launching of two luxury hotels, Best Western and Royal Oasis.

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The government of Haiti (GOH) is in hot water over allegations it has misappropriated a $3.4 million paid by Uruguay.

Five soldiers from the Uruguayan unit were charged in the sexual assault of a young Haitian soldier, Johnny Jean.

The GOH did not deposit the check into the Treasury, and hasn't been able to offer an explanation of where the money went. But Minister Pierre Richard Casimir of Foreign Affairs claims he received the money and transferred $1.8 million of it to the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation for the Jalousie project. But Minister of Justice and aide to Prime Minister Lamothe, Brunache, disagrees, and says the funds for the Jalousie project came from the Petrocaribe loan.

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A psychedelic makeover of Jalousie slum in Haiti is under progress. This uninviting concrete block of homes lay on mountainside of the capital of Haiti. The makeover of this largest shantytown of Haiti covers two aspects - homage and art. The facades are being painted by workers in cream, lime, peach and purple. The inspiration for these colors comes from Prefete Duffaut's work "Cities-in-the-skies". Duffaut was a great Haitian painter who died in 2012.

The whole effort is given a name - 'Beauty versus Poverty: Jalousie in Colors'. The project will cost $1.4 million and this slum makeover is an attempt of government to relocate the people living in displacement camps that were a result of 2010 earthquake. The government plans to pick up some high-profile camps in the nation's capital and relocate them in places like Jalousie while paying rent for a whole year in form of subsidies for those residents. The government also plans in tidying up these areas by providing city services and aims towards building up a place that will be decent for living and people will be proud to be a part of the place.

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