Transportation - Haiti Observer Blog

The construction of the overpass at the intersection with the road to Delmas, the Toussaint Louverture Boulevard and Martin Luther King Avenue, which was started in April 2013, has been completed and it has been inaugurated by President Martelly on Friday, August 7th, 2015. The Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul, Mr. Jules Cantave, President of the Court Cassation, Wilson Laleau, the Minister of Economy and Finance and several other members of the government were present at the inaugural venue at the Carrefour Airport intersection.

Delmas Viaduct is an eight channel exchanger; it has been built to open easy access to the areas neighboring Delmas, Nazon and above all, overcome the traffic problems. It was a $16.5 million project with PetroCaribe Funding, constructed by one Dominican construction firm 'Estrella' under the supervision of the firm LGL SA. The prime contract was awarded by the Directorate of Public Works of the Ministry. During his inaugural speech, the President Martelly has thanked all who had contributed to the work and welcomed the realization of such a "great work. Another second connector which will serve the population of Carrefour and users of the National No. 2, is presently under construction and is scheduled to open in September 2015.

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Most projects with a cost overrun usually do not go over 10 to 20 percent of the original cost. However this is not the case for the Delmas Viaduct that was inaugurated in August, 2015. According to the candidate for President, Jude Celestin who actually came up with this plan to build the Viaduct, the entire project was estimated at 6 million US dollars.

The actual cost of this project funded by PetroCaribe is 16.5 million US dollars. It was built by the Dominican construction company Estrella. This is close to three times more to original amount it was estimated for.

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The transportation company Sans Souci became the latest victim of the protest against the decision of President Michel Martelly to make "Les Arcadins" a commune and to connect it to the Artibonite Department.

After blocking traffic from all sides on the the National number 1 road, Protesters who have been unhappy with this decision, set fire to a bus that belongs to Sans Souci transportation service. In addition, several motorcycles were damaged. One person was reported killed as a result of the incident.

The people protesting argued that this particular rural section of Montrouis has some of the best beaches in the region and to detach this tourist area from their region would be an economic lost.

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The Federación Nacional de Transporte Dominicano (National Federation of Transport of Dominican Republic) has suspended all of its traffic to Haiti from Monday, August 3, 2015, due to the absence of security coverage for its drivers and goods by the Haitian authority. On last Saturday, July 25th, around 11:00 pm, 60 trucks belonging to the Association of owners and drivers of Salina were attacked by a mob while carrying gypsum from "Mine de la Lista" (Cabral) to the cement plant Cina, located in the Haitian community of Cabaret (on the road of Gonaïves). A group of violent individuals threw stones and various hard objects that caused heavy damage to the trucks and injured their drivers. The incident occurred inside the cement factory in the presence of the Haitian police who did nothing to prevent the mob damaging the trucks.

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DR Says no more Supplies to Haiti until Driver Safety Guaranteed. A fleet of 60 vans, owned by Federacion Nacional de Transporte Dominicano, were ambushed in Jimani by Haitians wielding machetes and guns. They ransacked the vehicles, taking construction items and personal goods. Damage to vans came to 100 million-plus pesos.

Drivers were injured, some taken to Jimani hospital. Fenatrado President Peralta said no more vans will enter Haiti until Haitian and Dominican governments settle the cross-border conflict and guarantee Fenatrado drivers' safety.

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The Martelly-Paul Government has decided to provide free transportation to the public during the two days of strike to reduce the socio-economic impact of the strike. School buses "DIGNITE" will be available to transport anyone at no cost to decrease the effect of the general strike announced

There will be Police agents from various units in those DIGNITE buses to assure security of the population. They will also be deployed at various strategic locations throughout the Haitian capital and some cities.

All these announced measures from the government do not guarentee your safety. there will likely be an increase of barricades, tire burning and rock throwing by individuals supporting the Gasoline strike.

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Some arrests have been made in connection with the burning of the Capital Coach Line Bus in Petit Goave. Authorities have announced that two individuals have been arrested and they are currently looking for more suspects.

It has been estimated that the type of transportation bus use by Capital Coach Line costs the company around $300,000 before transportation, shipping and other costs. This kind of lost is likely to set the company several years back.

History:
A capital coach line assuring the transport between Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes was burned to the ground in Petit Goave. According to eyewitnesses, some individuals stopped the bus that was driven by a Dominican national and set it on fire.

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On Thursday, March 5th, Blas Peralta, the President of the National Federation of Dominican Transportation (Fenatrado), has confirmed that 27 trailers and Dominican trucks, loaded with cement, rebars and food, were seized at Ouanaminthe after registering with the Haitian customs authority. In spite of requests from the Dominican authority, and by Jhovanny Escoto, the representative of the Fenatrado (Dominican Republic's biggest truckers union with a force of around 7,000 trucks) the Haitian customs has decided to retain the trucks as they had already been registered with their customs, but asked the Dominican drivers to return to their territory until the situation returns to normalcy. A total of 24 trucks was blocked in the customs area of Ouanaminthe and 3, at the exit of Cap-Haitien because of planned protests and threats of retaliation against the Dominican drivers.

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It has been reported that a major accident took place on the road in Haiti on Saturday. A member of the Haitian Chamber of Deputies was involved in a road accident where his car crashed into a transport van, causing 13 death and 10 injuries.

The accident took place in Pont Sonde. The name of the member of Haitian Chamber of Deputies was not released by the Police, however, the media was informed that he was not among the dead. The Deputy suffered chest injury and was taken to a hospital near by.

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It has been reported that a truck overturned last Saturday and many people were killed as a result. The crash took place in the town of Roseaux, east of Jeremie, Haiti.

The bus has plunged off a cliff in the coastal city of Roseaux. Report indicated that the truck was packed with people. 23 have been reported dead. Another 24 were injured, some seriously. About 50 vendors were riding inside the truck. Most of people in that overturned truck are from the town of d'Anse d'Hainault.

As it has been the case in the past, the passengers were crammed inside the vehicle surrounded by products.

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