GEO Haiti 2010

State of the Environment Report 2010
Additionally, the monitoring of the sand and sediment levels of lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, as
well as enforcement and also up-dating of laws are essential. Public awareness-campaigns on the
importance of superficial water bodies should also be prevalent. So far, responses to these issues
have been weak.
171
The Haitian coastal environment, in particular on the periphery of major urban centres, is a
dumping-ground for sewage as well as for the sediments coming from the mountain watersheds.
It also suffers from the effects of uncontrolled construction and land occupation, including the
overexploitation of its marine resources and mangrove forests, particularly on the continental
shelf. This pollution also destroys the beaches’ attractiveness. Some of the measures to counteract
such problems should include: protected marine and urban areas, the control of coastal erosion
by upstream watersheds, and improved knowledge and technological skills of those exploiting
such resources. Until now marine conservation activities are barely visible and thus consequently
difficult to assess.
The country’s energy resources rest chiefly on wood and its by-products. Wood is used on a
national scale and everywhere (coasts, plains, mountains), as much in homes (rural and urban),
as in micro-enterprises (bakeries, dry cleaners, lime-kilns, mills, brandy distillers, essential oils etc.).
Nonetheless, the over-exploitation of forests to satisfy the demand for energy create numerous
environmental problems, namely soil degradation due to loss of vegetative cover, water erosion,
silt-up of lakes and ponds, and decreased hydroelectric capacity. Many initiatives have been
developed in this sector, for example new power-plants in several cities, and feasibility studies
have been conducted on wind energy particularly in the north. Nevertheless, Haiti will have to
improve its use of renewable energy (hydroelectricity, wind, solar), and increase, throughout the
country, other possible alternative options, such as propane gas and the use of briquettes made
from solid waste (based on its experience, the Carrefour-Feuilles Project is an experiment which
should be repeated in other cities).
The air in Haiti is not heavily polluted from industrial activities as the country is hardly industrialised.
Actually, the main source of air pollution is largely linked to vehicle emissions, seemingly without
widespread health implications. However, stricter control measures of the main sources of air
pollution, namely vehicles unequipped with catalytic converters should be enforced.
Quarrying activities and their consequential waste are generally responsible for the degradation
found in most regions, especially in coastal areas. The legislation covering these activities is ignored
by most users, who take advantage of the State’s weak enforcement, regardless of the topography
or of the intended use of the soil. As a result of the level of degradation, the State will have to use
strict measures in regard to exploitation methods and areas suitable or unsuitable for exploitation,
including binding measures on the restoration of exploited sites.
In regard to housing in Haiti, one could say that anarchy reigns. No space is specifically reserved for
construction and dwellings are found everywhere – on river banks, on floodplains, on geologically
unstable lands. The associated problems, namely of sanitation and basic services, are more critical
in some areas than in others. Challenges are enormous and a viable solution could be an ample
territorial management-programme. It would be necessary to decide which governmental agency
would be in charge: could it be the Prime Minister’s Office through CIAT?