HAITI'S LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: MORE HELP NEEDED FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000079 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR STATE FOR INR/IAA SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAR/CAR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON HA PGOV PREL SUBJECT: HAITI'S LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: MORE HELP NEEDED FOR DEVELOPMENT Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) Local governments in Haiti face challenges in securing sufficient revenue for their cities' key priorities: development, urban and land use planning, and infrastructure development. In a recent lunch debate, several metropolitan area mayors blamed the central government for inattention to local needs and not providing the financial and human resources required to create jobs, repair roads and clean up streets. Mayors characterized the national government as unfamiliar with local government problems. Municipalities resent being denied the resources to exercise meaningful fiscal and local development autonomy. The mayors also criticized donors who undertake local program and project initiatives without prior consultation with mayors' offices. All agreed it is imperative that the parliament pass the bill on decentralization that will define the rights and responsibilities of municipalities. End summary. Central Government Stranglehold -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a January 14 lunch debate on local governance, hosted by the Ambassador, the mayors of Cabaret, Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Carrefour, Petion-ville, and Tabarre argued that the national government has a stranglehold on their finances. Tabarre Mayor Theodat -- a former Director General of the Income Tax Authority (DG/I)-- criticized government authorities for delays in disbursements of funds, including revenue generated and collected in their jurisdictions. Mayor Parent of Petionville noted that municipalities could not pressure tax evaders to pay up, since tax collection authority rests with the DG/I. ''DG/I is the reason we are poor,'' she said. Parent resents what she calls the ''tutelary'' relationship the government (especially the Ministry of the Interior) imposes on communes. Autonomy: Meaningless with No Money -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Given the unresponsiveness of the central government, several mayors complained that donors decide on and implement with NGOs projects that directly affect their municipalities without consulting mayors. One mayor specifically referenced difficulty with one USAID partner, but said he had no difficulty with another of USAID's partners. Mayors suggested that donors negotiate projects directly with mayors in the targeted districts. All agreed that construction projects that hired local labor would create stability in their municipalities. The Ambassador and USAID Director referred to the USD 14 million local government project (LOKAL-ARD) as an example of USG interest in helping municipalities. Several mayors said that passage of the decentralization law, which USAID assisted in drafting, was urgently needed to define rights and responsibilities of every level of local government. (Note: Interior Minister Paul-Antoine Bien Aime made the same point to Ambassador in their January 21 meeting. End note) Resources Critical to Urban Development -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Tabarre Mayor Theodat said human resources (i.e., the staff to carry out communes' responsibilities), infrastructure development and job creation were critical to development of his district. Theodat worried that haphazard construction would be impossible to halt without a land use and zoning plan. (Note: Theodat has appealed privately for donor assistance in preparing an urban land use plan to guide development in his district. End note) Port-au-Prince Mayor Jasmin criticized the government for lacking an ''urban policy.'' He gave an example of the central government providing his district three garbage trucks, but no drivers or money for fuel or maintenance as proof that the government is ''out-of-touch'' with the needs of local governments. Mayor Parent agreed, saying the absence of financial and human resources to meet constituents' needs left mayors feeling like ''good for nothing children standing in front of their parents.'' Mayor Parent also raised the concern, and other mayors concurred, that the lack of resources constrained their ability to plan for and mitigate the impact of flooding and other natural disasters. Comment PORT AU PR 00000079 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The mayors all defined autonomy as the central government providing them more funds. While their need for money is undeniable, none of the mayors spoke up for true municipal autonomy, whereby the local government levies and collects its own taxes, and finances itself largely through local revenues. While municipal leaders resent the controlling hand of Port-au-Prince, most of them merely want that hand to be more generous. They argue that timing of central government transfers is unpredictable and insufficient to meet local needs. Ministries of Interior and Finance representatives counter that the central government only delays transmittal of funds to municipalities in the absence of a transparent local budget. ¶6. (SBU) Haiti's constitution and the current legal framework governing decentralization (Loi Cadre) fail to clearly define the roles, power and responsibilities of local government entities and their leaders. This has often led to confusion and prompts local officials to assert that their authority is only ''on paper.'' In reality, their authority is limited by central government control over municipal purse strings. Mayors and Minister of Interior Bien Aime agree on the necessity of passing the revised decentralization law (Projet de Loi Etablissant le Cadre d'Organisation et de Fonctionnement des Collectivites Territoriales),which is on Parliament's 2009 legislative agenda for review in the coming months. SANDERSON