29372 Sprague (news) AHP (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

 From J Sprague <jeb[nospam]sprague@mac.com>

  AHP News - October 23, 2006 Additional stories - English
translation (Unofficial)

President Préval reaffirms road construction as a cornerstone of his
government's development policies


Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); President René Garcia Préval
said Sunday in an interview with the Miami Herald that he has made it
a priority of his administration to develop Haiti's road infrastructure.

On a map of Haiti, the president displayed, underlined in pink, the
roads where construction has already begun, while future road
construction projects were underlined in red on another map.

The red lines are clearly much more numerous than the pink because
René Préval has only been in office for five months, the Herald
reporter pointed out.

" I hope to build as many roads as possible because infrastructure is
considered the cornerstone of Haiti's economic development", declared
Mr. Préval.

"The people are not expecting a miracle", he said, "they only want to
see an improvement in their lives".

The president indicated that he is optimistic that the projects can
be completed despite the challenges because "there is an atmosphere
of trust from the side of the international community and the Haitian
population". He affirmed that "they see the government isn't
practicing partisan politics and they see this as a government
pushing transparency".

" The people don't want to hear what you are going to do; they want
to see what you are doing", declared President Préval.

The time will come, he said, to show the people what the government
has achieved through concrete actions.

As he gave his interview, President Préval referred to an American
newspaper that had recently published an article whose author sought
to convey that nothing was going on right now in Haiti.  It's a good
thing that nothing is happening (no coup d'etat, no protest), said
the chief of state, but it also means you've yet to feel that
something (good) is going  to happen in Haiti. When a chicken sits on
an egg, one day ... a little chick appears, beautiful and young, he
remarked.

Observations made with such imprecision as that (in the article
asserting that nothing is going on in Haiti) don't get us very far,
he observed.

AHP October 23, 2006 4:35 PM



Thousands of demonstrators take to the streets of Port-au-Prince
calling or the re-hiring of public sector workers who were illegally
fired by the former regime


  Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); Several thousand people,
largely supporters of  Fanmi Lavalas, demonstrated Monday in the
streets of Port-au-Prince to ask the government authorities to work
to re-hire the workers who were dismissed from the civil service by
the interim government of Gérard Latortue

They said they voted for René Préval with the expectation that their
living conditions would improve.

"As Aristide isn't here, it was normal that we would vote for
somebody we know well, but our hopes thus far have been
disappointed", said the demonstrators.

Other demonstrators said they found it improper that those who kicked
them out of the civil service because of their political affiliation
and who persecuted them over these past two years are welcomed with
open arms by the new authorities while they languish in misery.

The authorities are discussing a plan that would re-hire dismissed
workers who have certain qualifications, while others would be
compensated and would take part in a training program that would
allow them to make good use of the compensation funds they receive.

And individuals lacking the necessary qualifications who were hired
under the interim government will also have to participate in the
proposed program.

Some protesters considered that this initiative is late in coming and
commented that it is in the government's interest to address their
concerns as soon as possible.

"We will not stop until our concerns have been addressed", they said,
singling out in particular the director general of the National Port
Authority, whom they view as hostile to their issues.

The witch hunt that followed the departure of President Aristide
particularly affected the national telephone company  (Téléco), the
National Port Authority  (APN), the National Office of Old Age
Insurance (ONA) and the General Customs Administration.

Beyond having been sacked, some employees, such as workers at
Téléco, were arrested by the interim government because they asked
for compensation.

AHP October 23, 2006 2:25 PM



100 kilos of marijuana has been seized in  Grand-Goâve: four people
and two police officers have been arrested


  Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); More than 100 kilos of
marijuana were seized Saturday by the police in the Grand-Goâve
hamlet of  Faucher.

Four vehicles were also seized.

Haitian National Police spokesperson Frantz Lerebours, who made the
announcement, indicated that the population of the town carried off
several kilos of marijuana before the police arrived at the scene.

Four people, including two police officers were arrested in
connection with the case said Mr. Lerebours, announcing that the
results of an ongoing investigation into this situation will be
announced soon.

AHP October 23, 2006 1:55 PM



The Lucius case under Judge Saintil: the attorney for Mr. Lucius
announces that he has filed an action seeking dismissal of the judge
for abuse of authority


Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); Edwin Coque, the attorney
representing the Central Director of the Judicial Police (DCPJ),
announced Monday that he has filed a motion for dismissal before the
correctional court against investigating judge Napela Saintil.

In an interview with AHP, Mr. Coque said he took this decision
because in its ruling in the Lucius/Saintil case the Court of
Cassation found that the expression "place under examination"
utilized by the investigating judge concerning the DCPJ, Mr. Lucius,
is not found anywhere in Haitian penal legislation.

Mr. Lucius is accused of involvement in acts of kidnapping. He was
the object of a summons after he failed to respond to three formal
invitations to appear before the judge.

To counter this summons, Mr. Lucius filed an appeal before the Court
of Cassation against Judge Napela Saintil's summons. The High Court
ruled the appeal inadmissible.

But the attorney for the DCPJ believes instead that it is Judge
Saintil who is liable to sanctioned for abuse of authority and
imprisonment because he applied a concept to the Haitian criminal
legislation that was not foreseen by the drafters of the Haitian Code
of Criminal Investigation.

Mr. Coque also declared that he is appealing the summary judgment
ruling.

At the same time, sources affirm that the government prosecutor in
Port-au-Prince, Claudy Gassant,  is being harshly criticized in
various circles.

Among the accusations, he alleged to have hindered justice by
blocking the summons issued against the Central Director of the
Judicial Police.

AHP October 23, 2006 1:20 PM



A cooperation agreement has been signed between the Ministry of
Sports and the Ibero-American organization


Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); The Ministry for Youth and
Sports signed a cooperation agreement last week with the Ibero-
American Organization.

This organization works on behalf of youth in the Americas.
According to the Haitian Minister for Youth, Fritz Bélizaire, this
agreement will be implemented in three important areas: technical
assistance, institutional strengthening and bilateral exchanges.

Bringing Haiti into this structure will help improve its youth
policies, said Mr. Bélizaire.

For his part, the Ministry's Director General, Daniel Pierre-Charles,
announced that a workshop will be held on October 24 and 25 at the
Hotel El Rancho to discuss projects for Haitian youth.

AHP October 23, 2006 3:05 PM
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