Haiti - Environment : 450 meters of gabions along the river of Port-a-Piment
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the association "Group Initiatives for a New Port-a-Piment (GIPPN)" have inaugurated in the presence of Lionel Valbrun, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR), of the agronomist Joseph St. Phard, Departmental Director South of Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, and in the presence of Mr. Dieuseul Germeil, Deputy Mayor of Port-a-Piment, a wall of protection in gabions on 250 linear meters built along the river of Port-a-Piment, of the zone of Grand Passe in the direction of the zone "Anba Larivyè". This river runs along the city of Port-a-Piment and exposes it to the risks of flooding during the periods of flooding and heavy rains.
This new wall is in addition to the 200 linear meters that have been built upstream between 2009 and 2010. The UNDP has invested close to USD$300.000 for the realization of 450 linear meters of bank protection of the river of Grand Passe. But it remains 450 linear meters supplementary to build so that the river regains its natural bed under the bridge and protect the zone of Anba Larivyè.
This project allowed to recover and upgrade the agricultural land located at the bottom of the river and create about 250 temporary jobs contributing to the improvement of household incomes, "When we arrive on a site, the idea is to train and to use the labor of the neighborhood so that they benefit, learn new skills and build by themselves their cities, their neighborhoods, their neighborhoods," said Henri Morand, Head of Unit of Rehabilitation, livelihoods and poverty reduction of UNDP.
