Major infrastructure projects are key to boosting trade and visitor numbers
New public works Projects Are In Progress to Improve port Capacity, road maintenance, and airport facilities, but further investment is still required to realize the government’s regeneration proposals for Haiti’s Bicentennial year

Various plans are under way to develop Haiti’s cargo infrastructure and take the pressure off the country’s main transit hub, Port-au-Prince

Improving Haiti’s infrastructure is the cornerstone of the government’s current Five Year Plan, as well as one of the keys to the country’s regeneration in its bicentennial year. There is no shortage of ambitious programs to upgrade and improve telecommunications, the highway network, ports, and airports; the challenge lies in raising sufficient funds to finance them.

Given the recent embargo operated by many of Haiti’s traditional donors, road-building and maintenance have had to depend on allocations from the public treasury, as well as on aid from Taiwan. The Ministry of Public Works, which supervises the sector, has had to be firm in prioritizing projects, as well as ensuring that it gets good value for money.

“The Ministry of Public Works has benefited from government allocations that have enabled us to carry out various projects,” says Minister of Public Works, Harry Clinton. “Several major arteries in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area are being rehabilitated. For example, the Taiwanese have been involved in major works on the airport highway.”

The highway network around the country as a whole is in need of more regular maintenance, and there is a general recognition that the national government cannot meet all the needs itself.

HARRY CLINTON Minister of Public Works

“It is foreseen within the government program that at some time in the future responsibility will be transferred down to a regional level,” Mr. Clinton confirms. “This should mean that works carried out will act as a kind of ‘site-school’, where training sessions will take place — using this method we will be able to transmit knowledge throughout the country’s districts, allowing local administrators to take over the responsibility of highway maintenance in their region.”

Ports are another focus of attention, not least because Haiti depends so heavily on imports for many of its basic needs, as well as for materials used for economic development. Shipping costs tend to be high, partly because many containers arrive full but leave empty, due to the current low level of Haitian exports.
Port-au-Prince remains the country’s major port, but it is often operating at full capacity, and other locations are sought to deal with the cargo overflow. Various projects are on the drawing-board to develop other ports, particularly in the north. In the south, the port of Jacmel is already being modernized.

Similarly, the government plans to upgrade Haiti’s two international airports, at Port-au-Prince and Cap Haïtien, as well as six regional airports, which would help improve communications between the capital and the provinces. The Ministry of Public Works, the Tourism Ministry, and the Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad are all involved in this project. The two-and-a-half million expatriate Haitians are considered particularly important, as they usually form the bulk of the passengers flying in and out of the country.

“We would like to completely rehabilitate the two international airports, as they are necessarily the welcome point for visitors,” says Mr. Clinton. “I’m thinking particularly of people who are coming for the bicentennial of our independence.

“We have been looking for finance to carry out this work. Substantial sums of investment are required. I believe it will mean up to US$30 million for the airport at Port-au-Prince, and up to US$20 million for Cap Haïtien.”
Preparatory studies for the main airport improvements were carried out by an American firm, Birk Hillman. At Port-au-Prince, work initiated in 2003 involved enlarging the arrivals hall, and rehabilitating the VIP suite.

ADLER EDMA Chief Executive Officer of AAN

Haiti’s airports are managed by a state-owned National Airports Authority (AAN), whose Chief Executive Officer is Adler Edma. He has been in charge since 1999 and has had to supervise a very difficult period. In particular, the United States for a while had some safety concerns with Port-au-Prince international airport, which were subsequently resolved.

“We were able to meet this challenge,” Mr. Edma proudly states. “We work seven days a week, sometimes 24 hours a day, to make sure that we are on the ball, given the particular situation this country is living through.”
Port-au-Prince currently handles around one million passengers each year, but the aim is to boost that number to between two and five million over the next five years. “Further expansion work at Port-au-Prince, including runways and terminals, is envisaged,” Mr. Edma explains, “while at Cap Haïtien we would like to see between 400,000 and 800,000 passengers annually.”

He is optimistic about the major airports’ future prospects, and regrets that investors are slow to get involved. “Come with money and help us modernize our installations!” he urges. “Airports bring in money. And there is big commercial opportunity to running them.”

Mr. Edma continues, “Currently, we are spending a lot of money on safety. Lots of Haitians living in the United States come back here on a regular basis. If we can attract the right investment and more tourists start to return to this country, things will change rapidly.”

At the moment, passenger traffic is concentrated in the main North American holiday months of June, July, and August, with a smaller peak around Christmas. Most of the flights into Port-au-Prince are from New York and Miami; the latter is only an hour-and-a-half away. American Airlines is the major carrier, but has been joined by Caribbean Airlines and Ambassador Airlines.

“More flights mean more landings, and that means much more revenue for the airport,” Mr. Edma explains.
Before joining AAN, Mr. Edma was in charge of the National Bureau for Civil Aviation (OFNAC), where his successor is Jean Lemerque Pierre. This state-owned agency acts as regulator for the sector, with a particular concern to enhance both safety and security.

“OFNAC is responsible for air traffic control; consequently it provides all forms of communications means, telecommunications and so on,” Mr. Lemerque Pierre outlines.
Legislation relating to civil aviation has been revised, and technical improvements have been made. “Airspace now has a secondary monopulse radar cover, new procedures involving satellite use have been introduced, and there is a new system of air traffic control,” he says. “This revised and updated technology will raise standards and improve the quality of service we can provide.”