Petion-Ville - Haiti Observer Blog

Here is the impressive video of the new and improved Parc Sainte Thérèse in Petion-Ville.

The park definitely impressed me. It looks like any soccer stadium that I have in other, more developed countries. Bravo for the team for a job well done.

I just hope there is an annual budget for the maintenance of the stadium,

La rénovation du parc Sainte Thérèse

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The Spanish company, NG Hotels, has re-opened its resort hotel in Petion-Ville in the Ouest Department, a bedroom community near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. The El Rancho Hotel stands in the center of town, affording easy access to historical and cultural landmarks from any direction. The El Rancho Hotel is located near to the Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

A certified four-star establishment, El Rancho Hotel is made up of two adjacent divisions. Located on the east side of the hotel property, the hotel houses an Executive Suite, as well as Deluxe and standard suites at market rates. This part of the hotel property has been completely renovated after the 2010, 7.0 magnitude earthquake decimated Haiti, in order to attract the higher-paying guests.

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Andre Michel is back and this time, as you can see in this video, he put the blame squarely on Michel Martelly for the resurgence of class issue in Haiti. He also said that this did not start today.

He gave some examples: " When Michel Martelly referred to Liliane Pierre-Paul of Radio Quisqueya as "Ti Lili" added Metre Michel, he meant to say that: "Pitit malere, malerese" nan Ti Goave, Moun Tet Grenn, Moun Led.

Mesanmi Tande Koze

He also referred to the first Bal following Martelly inauguration as President in Petion-Ville. According to Andre Michel, Minm moun ki gin koule noir were nor allowed to go in".

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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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Vanel Lacroix, an ex-police chief, engaged in a gun battle with Léogâne police officers on September 12, 2013. Lacroix was with escaped convict, Jerry Leconte, and Isma, an ex-police officer. Isma has had a bench warrant for his arrest on kidnapping and drug trafficking. Jerry Leconte took advantage of 2010's earthquake to make his escape from prison.

Lacroix is being jailed on suspicion of his connection in Serge Demosthene's death. Lacroix was Chief of Police in Petion-Ville, and it was on his watch Demosthenes underwent torture at the hands of officers the night he died.

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There has been an explosion at Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince. The report indicated that the explosion caused at least four injuries. According to Radio Caraibes, the incident did not cause any lost of life.

The explosion at Hotel Montana took place Monday, May 20 while an outside company was in the process of supplying propane gas to the Hotel. Montana Hotel is located in Port-au-Prince, Route de Bourdon, Pétion-Ville.

Petion-Ville in Picture

Cause of the incident was attributed to a leak in the gas line during delivery

Hotel Montana was built in 1946 and was a popular four star tourist resort. During the 2010 earthquake, the main building of the hotel collapsed and an estimated 200 guests were reported missing the day after the collapse. Some of the victims included: Serge Marcil, former Canadian MP, Sam Dixon, head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Clinton Rabb, head of the United Methodist office of mission volunteers and Tran Trieu Quan, president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation.

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The Petion-Ville municipality came up with a strategic policy to attract international and domestic tourists to the city and to make it more dynamic. Promotion of the local products of Petion-Ville was also a part of the strategic policy. As a part of this policy, Junior Chamber International Innovation along with Town Hall of Petion-Ville invited people to attend the "Popouri Kiltirel Koulè Lokal" at Place Saint Pierre, which was held on 24th, 25th and 26th of May, 2013 at 5.00 p.m. It was the first revelation of the event "Popouri Kiltirel Koulè Lokal" for the year 2013.

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Pierre-Marie Boisson, on April 16th, 2013, happily announced the merger of Hotel Villa Creole and Hotel El Rancho. Together, these two hotels have a real estate property of 5 acres of land. Boisson mentioned that in Petion-Ville's living memory, this merger represents the largest transaction in real estate. Boisson is the financial adviser of Sogebank. Sogebank in turn is the adviser of real estate and financial company, FIS.

With this merger of El Rancho and Villa Creole, the shareholders of Villa Creole become El Rancho's shareholders. Of the total of 140 shareholders, the majority of the shares are held by Reginald Boulos followed by descendants of Sogebank, Silvera and bank employees. The renovation work for El Rancho is projected for completion by 2013 end of summer. El Rancho will have 13 apartments and 73 rooms and will have 86 housing units. Villa Creole will add another 40 rooms to this and will also go through some renovation work because of the damages caused by earthquake of 2013. During the Phase 2 of development, El Rancho will have another 50 rooms.

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Carabimmo SA, based in Haiti and Aimbridge Hospitality, based in Dallas have opened a hotel called Best Western Premier Petion-Ville in Haiti. This $15 million worth of hotel has been built in association with Best Western International and it located in Petion-Ville's upmarket suburb. The hotel opened on 28th March, 2013 and is referred to as 'the first full-service corporate U.S. brand hotel in Haiti'. The 7-storey luxury hotel features 3 imperial and executive suits and 106 guest rooms. The Best Western is loaded with amenities like flat screen TVs of 42" each, Wi-Fi, gym and spa with full-service, meeting space of 2000 sq. ft. capable of accommodating up to 160 guests and concierge service.

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The elections were fraudulent! Tens of thousands of demonstrating René Préval supporters took to the streets, or rather, took the streets with this cry after the results of the February 7, 2006 first-round of elections called for a run-off. What had started as a slightly run-of-the-mill election demonstration, complete with burning barricades and the thick, black smoke they create, took a much more direct approach to being heard by the people who count, as the crowd stormed the Petion-Ville gem, Hotel Montana, where the press headquarters of the electoral council was located.

Already deeply stung by the ousting of President Aristide, the demonstrators mobilized after the CEP released figures that made a run-off necessary, though the early count had shown Rene Préval with a lead clearly over the needed 50%. Claims of vote-rigging, incomplete or inaccurate voter lists, sudden relocations of polling stations, discarding of uncounted ballots and direct accusations against the CEP President of tampering abounded. Further fueling the ire of the protestors, communities traditionally for Préval saw an average 3-4 hours of delays in opening; a striking contrast to the noticeably smoother running of stations in areas supporting Préval's contenders. In those areas there were significantly fewer complaints, leading to the assumption that the difficulties experienced by Préval's demographic were artificially and intentionally created. Announcements of sudden changes were made at the last minute and were sometimes contrary to the actual situations met with by voters.

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