Sewer - Haiti Observer Blog

Chicago and Port-au-Prince are almost equal in sizes, but that is where their similarity ends. Chicago built its own underground sewer system for both waste water and storm water back in the 1856. Port-au-Prince, one of the largest cities of million people, has no sewer system. It is noteworthy to mention that just 4 years ago, the country faced the worst epidemic of cholera in recent history; more than a half-million people have gotten sick and the disease took the lives of more than 8,231 Haitians. The cumulative sewage and garbage of over 3 million people flows through open ditch. Every night, few 'bayakou' workers remove the cesspools that collect deep bogs of human waste from man-sized holes (fifty-cubic-metre) under Haiti's backyard latrines and dumped them into the city canals. During the rain, these wastes spill over the city environment before going to the sea. People living seaside, use over-the-sea hanging toilets and during emergency, they use some sort of plastic bag and throw the dirt out on the streets.

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