9128: News from outside Port-au-Prince (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

News from outside Port-au-Prince: circa 25 September 2001

In Cap-Haïtien, a police search operation has paid off with the arrest of 
several armed gangsters. City police commissioner, Godson Orélus, said that 
for several weeks men had been coming to Cap-Haïtien to escape detection and 
arrest in Port-au-Prince, and while there they had carried out criminal acts. 
Meanwhile, the city's police, working in cooperation with US drug enforcement 
agency officers, have also arrested some local businessmen suspected of 
drug-trafficking.

Peasant farmers in the area around Port-de-Paix in the north west have called 
for agrarian reform. The peasants have formed the Planters Association of 
Saint Louis du Nord to defend their interests.

Women's organisations in Mirebalais organised a day of reflection to help 
women understand their social rights and responsibilities. The workshop also 
dealt with the problem of violence against women. 

The Planters and Distillers Association of Léogâne has criticised the 
mismanagement of the Jean L. Dominique sugar refinery at Darbonne, and has 
denounced the theft and corruption that prevail there.

Youth groups in the communes of Ganthier and Fonds-Verettes have denounced 
the excessive deforestation of the Forêt des Pins. The groups' leaders have 
expressed their concerns regarding the dangers that this will create, and 
called for the adoption of urgent measures to stop it. 

Pasteur Lebonheur Dorcénat of Belle-Fontaine in the western department has 
denounced the subhuman living conditions and lack of basic necessities in the 
area. He said that dozens of children are dying of malnutrition, and called 
on the authorities to come to their aid. 

On La Gonâve, the leaders of the Mouvement de Résistance pour le 
Développement de la Gonâve have asked the Ministry of Education to send 
school materials for the island's children. The movement's spokesperson said 
that peasants are unable to buy the things that their children need to study.

(various sources: translated from French by Charles Arthur for the Haiti 
Support Group)

See the Haiti Support Group web site for more news and features:

http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport

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