On February 2, the Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Ralph Youri Chevry accompanied by his assistants Kettyna Bellabe and Bernard Joseph, in the presence of members of the Government, officials of the mayor, technical and financial partners and stakeholders of the Civil Society of the commune presented to the Convention Center of the BRH, the outline of the Action Plan of the Municipality of Port-au-Prince for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

This presentation was intended to articulate the municipality's vision, in order to lay the groundwork for a development process from the distribution of primary services.

In his intervention, Mayor Chevry stressed "The option to be adopted must aim to revive Port-au-Prince, developing a policy that takes into account all its challenges and is based on an intelligent approach to municipal management."

For Chevry, the Port-au-Prince space deserves to be reorganized on the basis of a new economic, social and cultural vision that remains to be defined. While admitting that everything is a priority, he considered it appropriate among the 30 actions of the Action Plan that will define the policy of the town hall and its surroundings, to raise various specific intervention points, which are articulated around five main axes :

- Spatial planning, the environment and urban planning (including a waste management strategy);

- Public security;

- Economic development and governance;

- Culture, tourism and recreation;

- Basic services, communication and social affairs.

Regarding the financing of this action plan estimated at 600 million Gourdes, Rosario Dominique, consultant to the mayor of Port-au-Prince said that of the 30 actions planned, 14 are already funded and 16 are waiting for funding. He said that the city has for the moment an envelope of 200 million gourdes, a loan from the state. He added that the city intends to expand its tax base and collect in the current fiscal year 25% more tax revenue than the 250 million gourdes collected the previous year, adding that the project is open to public funding and private.

The Port-au-Prince Municipal Council relies heavily on the support of the state authorities, the municipality can not develop without the help of the State, but also on its partners and on all the citizens of the commune o contribute to achieving the objectives that have been set such as: coordination and consultation with the State, meeting the needs of the population in relation to its expectations and priorities, increased involvement of the population in management of municipal affairs and accountability to maintain transparency in the use of public funds.

For Jacquelin Eugène, of the Center for Study and International Cooperation (CECI) this Action Plan should have extended until 2020 and not be limited to one year, deploring the absence of development agencies in this program she recommended to the municipal administration that the activities of the development partners be considered in the Port-au-Prince plan.

The municipal administration recalled that this plan was subject to revision depending on the State and the technical and financial partners.

HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre