Cap-Haïtien is ready to party for 354th anniversary despite some struggles

CAP-HAITIEN — Richard Pierre, a recent resident of Cap-Haïtien, is not fully satisfied with the preparations for the city’s 354th anniversary celebration  — the first-ever he will attend. Pierre, who moved from Port-au-Prince about six months ago, feels that residents could have contributed more, especially in terms of sanitation, as many streets are filled with trash.

“It’s the grease of the pig that is used to cook it,” Pierre, 40, said, alluding to the Haitian proverb se grès kochon an ki kwit kochon an. “We have to be the ones taking care of ourselves. And to take care of ourselves, we have to be aware that the work must be done together. We need a sense of belonging. We have to say we’re from Okap, we live in Okap, so we have to be the ones making Okap beautiful.”

Pierre’s sentiments align with this year’s anniversary theme, Nou se Okap, “We are Cap-Haïtien” in English. This theme emphasizes collective effort, which has been crucial for the city’s recent development. 

Various groups, not just the government, have been driving ongoing projects. For instance, Okap Projects has installed solar-powered street lights, and Bien Nettoyer has placed dumpsters in the streets for trash collection. These private initiatives have been essential to partially facelift Cap-Haïtien, especially since the Town Hall is struggling with a lack of funds.

To help finance the event’s preparations and organization, Cap-Haïtien’s Town Hall requested 64 million gourdes (USD 485,000) from the central government for the celebration in June but has yet to receive any funds. Despite this, various groups have organized multiple events during the month-long celebration to fill the void left by the Town Hall.

“Our theme is We are Okap,” Mayor Yvrose Pierre said during a press conference addressing the trash problem, one of the city’s main issues. “If we are Okap, that’s me, you, him, her, all of us are Okap. We all have to put our hands together for Okap to be clean because the town hall will never be able to broom in front of everyone’s house.”

Sanitation and infrastructure issues

Several streets, such as Letter L— one of the city’s main roads, are filled with long piles of trash. One of the largest piles, over seven feet tall, is on Street 10 I, where outdoor vendors sell various products near the indoor market. Sanitation workers started this pile after cleaning the indoor market in July.

In addition to the trash issue, Cap-Haïtien has had few hours of electricity in the past five years. The Town Hall has also failed to provide power for the celebration. During nighttime events, some streets will be lit by the street lights installed by Okap Projects, but many others will remain dark.

“We need a sense of belonging. We have to say we’re from Okap, we live in Okap, so we have to be the ones making Okap beautiful.”

Richard Pierre, Cap-Haïtien resident

Several roads in Cap-Haïtien are also not asphalted, causing dust and heavy traffic daily. A road and sidewalk construction project was started in June but was not completed in time for the celebration.

Still, the month is packed with attractive events. 

Despite the city’s challenges, Cap-Haïtien’s Town Hall reported that all hotels are full and plane tickets are sold out for this month.  This is a sign that many from the diaspora will participate in the month-long celebration, which kicked off on Aug. 7, and will end on Aug. 25, with the anniversary itself on Aug. 15.

One of the most notorious events this year is the first edition of Karabela, a royal-style ball that will take place at Palais Sans Souci on Aug. 17th. 

Karabela will feature a red carpet in which attendees are encouraged to wear Haitian-made attires and they will dance to Grand Orchestre Septentrional’s live performance afterward.

“Everyone wants to wear Gucci and Prada,” said Alendy Almonor, co-founder of Sakapfèt Okap, the media group organizing Karabela. “We forgot about the whole habit of going to a local designer who’s going to buy the fabrics, go to the tailor, and make you a great costume. We lost that habit… It’s important for us to identify ourselves.”

About 400 people will attend Karabela, with tickets costing $150 without transportation and $175 with transportation.

Sakapfèt Okap will also hold the second edition of Okap Flavors, a gastro and craft fair, and a rara festival with about 20 rara bands. The media group budgeted about $250,000 for the celebration.

Outside of Sakapfèt Okap’s events, the Town Hall will host a gastro and craft fair from Aug. 13 to Aug. 15. Orchestre Tropicana d’Haiti, one of northern Haiti’s oldest konpa music bands, performed at Place d’Armes on Aug. 13 and will perform again on Aug. 15, as usual for the city’s anniversary.

A delegation from Benin will attend some events alongside Cap-Haïtien’s Town Hall officials. There will also be a bicycle parade, Okap à Velo, Cap-Haïtien on Bike in English, among other events.

No power, trash in the streets or not, people are partying.

“I’m really happy to attend this year’s anniversary celebration,” Pierre said. “My wife is from Okap, she always tells me about it. I will try to go to as many events as possible.”

The post Cap-Haïtien is ready to party for 354th anniversary despite some struggles appeared first on The Haitian Times.

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Cap-Haïtien is ready to party for 354th anniversary despite some struggles was first posted on August 14, 2024 at 11:12 am.