Haiti - Security : Reconstruction project of the fire station of Port-au-Prince
The project to rebuild the fire station of Port-au-Prince, heavily damaged by the earthquake of January 2010, was one of the objectives of the mission of the Mayor of Quebec City, Régis Labeaume, came to visit Haiti from November 27 to December 4, accompanied by a large delegation of eminent personalities and experts, at the initiative of Michaëlle Jean, UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti, which had expressed the deplorable situation of the fire station.
Upon arrival, Richard Poitras, Fire Chief of Quebec, and Marika Vachon, architect of the city of Quebec, was surprised to learn that the UN had already made the plans of an ambitious project to rebuild the fire station of Port-au-Prince for an estimated cost of $7 million.
For Richard Poitras, it was a disproportionate project that did not reflect the real needs. After having made the state of the situation and of actual needs, the Fire Chief and architect Quebecers have evaluate a new project more realistic averaging $2 million, built with materials and local labor and not imported steel structures.
In addition, during his visit, Mr. Poitras found that the fire station of Port-au-Prince, home to a large number of fire hoses from different countries more or less consistent and usable. Given that the Fire Department of the City of Quebec, has 3 machines [little used] to repair the hose, it was decided that one of them would be offered to the firefighters of Port-au-Prince to enable them to repair their hoses.
