Roche-a-Bateau - Haiti Observer Blog

NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association) International provides people in developing countries with access to safe, reliable and affordable electricity. The company is credited with the establishment of Haiti's first electric cooperative-- Cooperative Electrique de l'Arrondisement des Coteaux (CEAC). Dozens of volunteer cooperative linemen are working tirelessly to connect homes in Côteaux and Roche-a-Bateau to the power grid and a third community, Port-a-Piment, will be also connected to the grid by this year end. During inauguration ceremonies, on September 10 and 18, the residents of Côteaux and Roche-a-Bateau cheered with joys as they saw the streetlights glowing for the first time. At present, the cooperative has more than 670 registered members and intends to serve 1,600 or more consumers in three towns. The project has been made possible with support from the USAID, the United Nations Environmental Program (with financing from the Norwegian government), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the NRECA International Foundation. The cooperative needs different varieties of volunteers to serve.

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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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Roche-à-Bateau is a township located in the Côteau Arrondissement, under the Sud Department, with a population of 13,336 residents. It is located on the southwest part of the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti. Three communes comprise it: Rose-Beaulieu, Renaudin, and Boclos-Martinette.

The lore of the name Roche-a-Bateau has two versions. In the first, it is said an exploring sailor chanced upon Roche-à-Bateau port. Learning the topography of the village, his imagination saw it resembled the shape of a boat, or bateau in French. In the second version, the harbor teemed with sea vessels from foreign shores, all bringing exports to market. In order to keep boats from hitting each other, the merchantmen placed rocks in the bottoms of the boats, and the name of the village, Bateau, then became Roche-à-Bateau, or boat of rocks in English.

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