Gonaïves launches cleanup program to tackle persistent waste problem

GONAÏVES — Gonaïves has launched a pilot waste-management program in five neighborhoods, bringing municipal workers, local businesses and residents together to tackle the city’s persistent garbage problem.

Since late June, sanitation workers and committee members of five Gonaïves neighborhoods have gathered on weekends to collect garbage from streets and public spaces as part of a new program “Katye Pa m Pi Pwòp,” Haitian Creole for “My Neighborhood Is Cleaner”. The program aims not only to clean the streets but to establish a more regular collection and disposal system for the waste generated and encourage residents to keep garbage off public spaces.

“No one has the right to throw waste in the streets,” said Gina Jeanty, chairwoman of the municipal commission, at the launch ceremony. “Residents must keep their garbage until the city teams come through to pick it up.”

The initiative comes as municipalities across Haiti continue to struggle with inadequate waste-management systems and the health risks associated with handling waste.

 In cities such as Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Fort-Liberté, Ouanaminthe, Port-de-Paix and Jérémie, garbage has repeatedly accumulated in streets, drainage canals and public spaces, creating environmental and public-health concerns. Efforts have included community cleanups, private-sector recycling and waste-processing initiatives, and plans to develop modern landfills.

 In northeastern Haiti, for instance, authorities have pursued new landfill infrastructure, including a site intended to serve Fort-Liberté, Ouanaminthe and Ferrier. But those efforts have often been constrained by limited municipal resources, mismanagement, and technical and financing challenges.

In Gonaïves, municipal officials are now betting that a combination of regular collection, private-sector involvement and community participation can provide a more sustainable approach. Officials hope to expand the pilot throughout the municipality and use it as a replicable model across the country.

Five neighborhoods selected for pilot

The first phase covers Biennac, Jubilé, Raboteau, Descahos and Gastro. Municipal officials said the program could expand to other parts of Gonaïves—Haiti’s second-largest city demographically and the Artibonite Department’s capital —depending on the results.

“We are moving forward gradually to achieve our goal, which is to make the entire city cleaner,” Jeanty said.

The municipality has mobilized trucks, backhoe loaders, wheelbarrows, shovels, three-wheeled motorcycles and other equipment for the program. Officials said a collection vehicle is expected to circulate through the five neighborhoods every two or three days to collect household waste.

Officials say residents also have a role to play. They are being asked to use designated containers and keep garbage off the streets until collection crews arrive.

Neighborhood representatives welcomed the initiative but said regular collection will be essential if the cleanup is to produce lasting results.

“We fully support this cleanup campaign, which is a commendable effort,” community representative David Duplessy said. “It’s another opportunity for Gonaïves to rediscover its true character and face.” 

The municipality is also working with Bioénergie Haiti, a company specializing in waste-to-energy production.  Under the partnership, the municipality will collect waste while the company will process and transform it. 

“This agreement reflects a broader effort in Haiti to move beyond simply removing garbage from streets and toward systems that can process waste and potentially turn some of it into usable resources,” Marc Emmanuel Bertheau, Gonaïves interim mayor, said.

Limited resources remain a challenge as cleanup continues

The capital city of the Artibonite Department has experienced persistent waste-management challenges as its urban population has grown.

The municipality faces a major constraint: money

Bertheau said the city has received no financial assistance from the central government or international organizations for the cleanup program. Instead, local businesses have provided equipment, including wheelbarrows, shovels, picks and rakes. The city is also negotiating with motorcycle rental companies to obtain three-wheeled vehicles that could strengthen collection operations.

“We receive no financial resources from the central government. It is local businesses that provide us with some equipment,” Bertheau lamented.

He said the program was created to improve Gonaïves’ image while addressing garbage scattered throughout its neighborhoods.

“We organized this initiative with committee members to collect the trash scattered throughout the various neighborhoods,” he added.

The lack of resources has long complicated cleanup efforts in Gonaïves. Neighborhood committees say cleanup efforts will have limited impact if the city cannot remove the garbage promptly after residents collect it.

Junior Leslie, a member of the Jubilé neighborhood committee, said residents sometimes collect garbage only to wait for the municipality to remove it, leaving piles at intersections.

“We are asking officials at the city hall to provide the neighborhoods with garbage trucks to collect the trash scattered at the intersections,” Leslie said.

Duplessy, a member of the Descahos neighborhood committee, similarly called for more consistent collection, particularly at intersections leading to National Route 1.

“Every time the Gonaïves city hall decides to carry out cleanup operations, implementation is too slow,” Duplessy said. Authorities must take the necessary measures to prevent the trash from being scattered again.”

For these local committees, the program’s success will depend on both residents’ willingness to participate and the municipality’s ability to maintain a reliable collection schedule.

Jean Louis Etienne, a motorcycle taxi driver who works at a downtown intersection, said people and municipal officials appear committed but need more resources from the central government.

“I think the will is there,” Etienne said. “The municipality needs the necessary resources and equipment to clean the city daily so that this work can continue and be an example for many towns across Haiti.” Gonaïves.”

The post Gonaïves launches cleanup program to tackle persistent waste problem appeared first on The Haitian Times.