The other side of Cap-Haïtien’s clean market: A pile of trash from it

CAP-HAITIEN — Seven days after Cap-Haïtien’s town hall cleaned the city’s indoor market, vendors and customers are still amazed at how neat it has remained. Despite some empty plastic water bags here and there, the floor was spotless on July 29. The city’s officials continue to receive praise from not only residents but also members of the diaspora online.

The cleanup project is arguably the town hall’s most well-received project of the year so far. However, it came with a major downside. The project is akin to a child cleaning their room but piling all the dirty laundry in a closet, as the cleaners piled all the trash outside the market corner where vendors are also stationed on Street 10 I.

The pile of trash is over seven feet tall and stretches across more than half of the street. The drainage system on that street is clogged, resulting in a black musty liquid on the floor. Outdoor vendors have been selling raw chicken meat, grilling it, eating, and drinking next to the pile of trash for about 24 days now.

“I’ve been spitting all morning because I can’t deal with the smell,” said Anita Voltaire, a chicken meat vendor. “The odor gives me a headache and I can’t breathe properly. I’m spitting and I’m not eating because of the smell.”

The pile of trash near the indoor market highlights one of the main reasons why the trash problem has been persisting in Cap-Haïtien in recent years: a lack of landfills in the city. One landfill Cap-Haïtien sanitary workers have been bringing the trash to is in Limonade, a commune about nine miles away. On top of insufficient garbage trucks, sanitary workers often confronted with lack of fuel to make multiple trips to Limonade on regular basis, sources have told The Haitian Times.

Cap-Haïtien is not alone

Waste management remains a major issue in Haiti urban areas as many other cities are struggling with the same problem. To tackle this issue in the Northeast Department, the departmental directorate of the Ministry of Environment and the United Nations Development  Program (UNDP) are in the process of building a landfill covering the three largest municipalities in the region, including Fort-Liberté, Ouanaminthe and Ferrier. Funded by Japan, this project is estimated to cost about two million US dollars.

As for Cap-Haïtien, it started a USD 34.8 million waste management project in December 2023. However, eight months later, there has been little to no improvement regarding the trash managment issue in Cap-Haïtien.

It is unknown when the town hall plans to clean up near the public marketplace or where it plans to transport the trash. The Haitian Times has reached out to the city’s deputy mayor, Patrick Almonor, via WhatsApp seeking comments for this article but he has yet to reply.

Some vendors are eager to donate to town hall for street clean-up

Due to the town hall’s minimal efforts to tackle the trash problem amid apparent financial difficulties, residents often pay wheelbarrow drivers to pick up the trash in their neighborhoods. However, the pile of trash near the market is too much for residents to handle with the help of wheelbarrow drivers. Instead, some vendors told The Haitian Times that they were willing to form a group that would help the town hall raise funds to help cleaning Street 10 I.

Live chicken seller, Larier Oriol, was furious as he talked about how he has been asking other vendors to donate, but some have refused. Oriol sat near about 10 white chickens in a cage while konpa music blared from a speaker behind him.

“Chicken sellers are dirty,” Oriol, 58, said. “This isn’t just the mayor’s responsibility. We have to team up and bring money in an envelope to the town hall. They know the town hall might not have gas money and they’re ashamed to ask us for money. But no, they refuse to donate. Chicken sellers are really dirty. They have to help the mayor out.”

The pile of waste has been growing and getting closer to the vendors since more people have been dumping their trash there. Additionally, when it rains, the amount of liquid on the floor increases. When the sanitary workers cleaned the market in 2020, they also dumped the trash right there on Street 10 I, but that year the town hall did not take this long to pick it up.

Like Oriol, Voltaire is among the vendors willing to donate to the town hall, even though she has not been earning enough income to provide for her family because she lost multiple clients due to the trash. Voltaire has four children between the ages of two and 14, and she has been struggling to feed them.

“We know the State doesn’t have money,” Voltaire said. “We’re ready to collaborate with the mayor.”

Multiple flies rested on Voltaire’s meat while she spoke. She admitted that her meat is not safe to eat, another reason why Street 10 I must be cleaned as soon as possible.

“They’re [clients] putting bacteria in their bodies,” Voltaire said. 

In front of Voltaire, a woman dressed in black calmly sat near about 10 black and brown chickens tied on top of a cage. Her name is Elizabeth Pierre and she has also been struggling to provide for her children. She has eight children who are in their 20s and 30s.

Pierre is eager to donate from the little money she has to the town hall. But until Street 10 I is clean, she said, imploring Mayor Yvrose Pierre to provide the chicken vendors a temporary place to sell. 

“Please Mayor if there’s somewhere else we can go, please come get us,” Pierre said. “Worms are eating us.”

The post The other side of Cap-Haïtien’s clean market: A pile of trash from it appeared first on The Haitian Times.

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The other side of Cap-Haïtien’s clean market: A pile of trash from it was first posted on August 2, 2024 at 10:17 am.