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Haiti - Politic : Decentralization, corruption, explanations of Michel Martelly...
30/05/2011 10:02:42

During an interview given last week to the RTVE [Spanish Television], whose we publish the extracts that are most important, the President Martelly, on the current situation in Haiti declared "the situation for people in the streets is practically the same. I'm the president since only 12 days and as long my Prime Minister will not be ratified by the Parliament, I will not have power in my hands". To know how he intends to exercise this power, Mr. Martelly has clarified "I have already demonstrated that I have a different leadership. I was in the streets, to ensure that those carrying out public works have the necessary resources, for example by improving drainage, now that the rainy season has arrived, it's things that we have to resolve..."

Concerning his priorities, the President stressed that "it's really a huge task ... but the problem was already there before the earthquake. The earthquake has put before our eyes what was hidden: poverty, slums everywhere, etc... There are several priorities, one of them is education. We will create a National Fund for Education https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3034-haiti-education-launch-of-the-national-fund-for-education-fne-by-martelly-update-1h03pm.html with the contributions from the businesses. I want to make education free for all Haitian children. I think that for Haiti out of poverty, we must do it through education. I also want to bring drinking water to all residents of Port-au-Prince."

Asked about the reconstruction in Port-au-Prince where everything is almost like the day after the earthquake, the Head of State explained that "We need to solve the problem of overcrowding to Port-au-Prince. I want to create new communities [...] with schools, churches, markets and clinics. We need huge vacant land outside of Port-au-Prince, to build these communities and allow people to leave congested areas. We must work to develop areas outside the city [...] Port-au-Prince has been built for two hundred thousand people today there are three or four million people... So I think the best we can do now is build outside of Port-au-Prince to encourage people who came in search of work to do it, but in these new communities."

Responding to the reporter's question, to know how as President he intended to address problems of corruption, while significant capital will flow to the reconstruction "Firstly, I am not a corrupt, so nobody around me must be corrupted" he has stated firmly, explaining "it is necessary to direct the legal and judicial systems to take action when necessary. If someone is suspected of corruption, law and justice should do their job. We must establish a system whereby citizens can report, anonymously, [persons or organizations] that they suspect of corruption. In addition, by publishing projects, eg on a website, people can see how money is spent [...] so things will be visible and people can confirm that these projects have been carried out."

HL/ HaitiLibre