HAITIAN PRESIDENT TOURS FLOODED AREAS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000503

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/CCA, S/CRS/, INR/IAA, S/P
SOUTHCOME ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAVER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EAID HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN PRESIDENT TOURS FLOODED AREAS

PORT AU PR 00000503 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) Summary. Even before the official June 1 start date of the
2009 hurricane season, heavy rains have already caused 11 deaths and
some damage across the country. Haiti?s Civil Protection Department
has declared an orange alert across the country. President Preval
is attempting to get ahead of the issue politically by making three
trips in the last two weeks to the Gonaives area, the area most
devastated during the 2008 hurricane season, to check on disaster
preparedness. He criticized the international community over the
pace of operations and asked the Haitian construction authority to
take more responsibility. Preval pointed to the existence of
shantytowns in vulnerable areas as a contributing factor in the most
recent deaths and damage. End summary.

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Rainy Season Underway, Hurricane Season Approaching
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2. (U) June 1 marks the beginning of the official ?hurricane season?
in the Caribbean. Already in Haiti, however, the rainy season has
begun in earnest, with heavy rains hitting the Artibonite (Gonaives,
St. Marc) and south (Les Cayes, Leogane),the Central Plateau, and
the Nippe Departments ? in addition to heavy rains during the past
two weeks in Port-au-Prince. Media reports include accounts of
flooding, storm damage and eleven deaths over the past two weeks.
Alta Jean-Baptiste, Director of the Department of Civil Protection
(DPC),attributed the deaths and damage to a tropical depression
that has dumped rain across Haiti, causing the evacuation of an
estimated 500 persons and the loss of over 300 homes. DPC declared
an orange alert over the entire country.

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President Preval Reacts
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3. (U) Following his May 18 visit to Archaie to mark Flag Day May
18, the normally reclusive President Preval went a little further up
the coast on May 21 to the coastal towns of St. Marc and Gonaives.
The visit came after two quick Presidential visits to Gonaives the
weekend of March 9 and 12. Both towns are prone to flooding after
heavy rains due to their location downstream from the large
Artibonite Valley watershed and the mountains that surround it.
Preval visited storm affected neighborhoods and checked on progress
being made to shore up river banks and prevent a recurrence of last
year?s devastating loss of life and property. (Note: The people of
Gonaives were the largest and most visible victims of last year?s
flooding, but similar scenes played out in many other locations in
Haiti. End note.) Preval criticized the disaster preparedness work
of the international community and said that Haiti?s National
Equipment Center (CNE ? the national agency responsible for
procurement and management of heavy equipment) should assume more
control over disaster preparedness projects. (Note: The GOH
purchased for the CNE dozens of new earthmovers purchased using the
USD 197 million emergency fund established in October 2008. The
Parliament has repeatedly called for an accounting of disbursement
of these funds; the GoH has promised to provide a report in June.
End note.)


4. (U) Preval also promised additional support to TECINA, the
contractor that is rehabilitating irrigation canals in the
Artibonite Valley, the most important Haitian agricultural area with
the vast majority of domestic rice production. In his statement to
the press, Preval provided details on the work being done to dredge
the bed of the La Quinta River. He said that the river flow is
greater now than it was in 2004, when the last studies were done,
and that therefore more capacity needed to be created than
originally planned. Preval also promised that work on bridges
spanning the two rivers that converge on Gonaives, the La Quinta and
the Mapou Rivers, would be completed but did not provide dates.

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Anarchic Construction Partly to Blame
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5. (U) During these visits, Preval repeatedly raised the issue of
?anarchic construction,? implying that the many shantytowns
(?bidonvilles?) have contributed to both the flooding and the
elevated death/damage statistics. In Port-au-Prince, local
authorities in two different locations (Delmas and Petionville) have

PORT AU PR 00000503 002.2 OF 002


begun to remove people from areas deemed prone to flooding and
mudslides. Shantytowns in Port-au-Prince are concentrated in two
locations: high up on steep hillsides surrounding the city and down
low in ravines where flood waters accumulate during and after heavy
rainfall. (Comment: Preval has suggested that populations in areas
prone to flooding or mudslides should move, but the GOH has done
little to provide alternate lodging. End comment.)

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Comment: USAID Efforts
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6. (U) The President?s comments belie the considerable international
donor effort, including by the USG, to respond to the flooding in
Gonaive last year. While some activities are under late-stage
planning, others are underway. USAID-funded CHH has begun clearing
a major drainage canal in Gonaives that runs alongside the national
highway. CHF is also building an upland draining system near the La
Quinte River which will protect a few small communities. CHF began
reviewing contractor bids for rehabilitating the Haute Plaine
irrigation system serving an estimated 500 hectares on May 19.
USAID partner IOM is completing irrigation canal work off the La
Quinte River in the community of Des Barrieres. USAID has heard
that Preval has instructed CNE to work 24 hours a day on the La
Quinte riverbed. In light of this Presidential instruction, USAID
is revisiting option for use of the aforementioned funds. In any
case, USAID is working with DPC and the sectoral technical
committees to strengthen institutional capacity to prepare for the
upcoming hurricane season. USAID is also working with UNDP to
pre-position non-food items and map-rehabilitate and upgrade
facilities to be used for shelter.


7. (U) Comment continued: Just as the first heavy rains presage
Haiti?s hurricane season, Preval is trying to get ahead politically
of the natural disaster issue by visiting and inspecting the sites
of the worst damage in 2008, and criticizing international and
national aid actors. Despite the GoH expenditure of nearly USD 200
million in emergency funds since October 2008, the state of disaster
preparedness in Haiti, based on recent flooding incidents in a wide
geographic spread of locations, does not look good. Haiti has a
disaster alert system with various color-coded levels (currently
yellow and orange nationwide due to continuing heavy rains) but
little means of helping the population with practical responses to
the alerts.

SANDERSON