The Minustah, having understood that the project of construction of transitional premises for the Haitian Parliament will not be completed in time for the opening of the next parliamentary session in April, proposed to the representatives of both houses, the quick installation of prefabricated premises, on the Parliament place on the Bicentennial. This proposal was formally accepted by the relevant authorities.

It aims to enable the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to initiate the parliamentary work quickly, between the conclusion of the electoral process in April and the construction of a transitional building that will cover the needs of the Legislative power until the reconstruction of the new permanent building.

Prefabricated, equipped with air conditioners, include: a large room of 440 square meters, that will have a capacity of 230 people which will house the National Assembly ; a room of 145 square meters which can accommodate sessions of the Senate of the Republic ; a premises for two meeting rooms that can be used to the meetings of parliamentary committees and an administrative space that can accommodate one hundred servants.

The work of installation of the temporary offices of both Houses began on March 2, 2011 and should be completed on April 20, 2011.

These lightweight construction,which can be dismantled when it will be necessary, will not be an obstacle to the reconstruction plan of the lower Port-au-Prince that the Haitian government is considering longer-term.

For its part, the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Minustah, which provides technical support to the Parliament since 2007, has gave on February 7, 2011, to the administrative staff of Parliament a lot of 24 computers made available by UNDP.

HL/ HaitiLibre