Engineer Frantz Verella
Port-au-Prince, May 20, 2026.- Six years after its launch, the World Bank's urban development project for the Greater Haitian North has a skeletal impact. Invited this Wednesday on Magik9, the former Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications, engineer Frantz Verella, pointed out the structural weaknesses of the state and international aid. Between lack of a master plan, incomplete infrastructure and economic dependence on the Dominican Republic, the expert called for an urgent re-foundation based on citizen education and quality governance.
Millions of dollars for a dramatic outburst
Approved in March 2020 and expected to end in December 2026, the major urban development project funded by the World Bank is trampling. Frantz Verella notes with bitterness the absence of real impact on the field. The built roads remain too narrow (4 to 5 metres), the evacuation canals remain open, favouring the accumulation of garbage, and the crucial connections between national roads RN1 and RN3 have never been completed. This blockage is due to excessive administrative delays, endless procurement procedures and a staggering lack of local firms able to take over.
The Great North under Dominican infusion
The former minister drew a painful parallel with the Dominican Republic, where municipalities are technically better equipped. A striking example: drinking water. In Cap-Haitien, restaurants and hotels consume heavily imported water from across the border (Agua B). Why? Because in Haiti, the exorbitant cost of electricity (up to 30 cents per kilowatt compared to 15 in the Dominican Republic) prevents local water treatment plants from being competitive. Moreover, the historic city of Cap-Haitien, with 400,000 inhabitants, must survive with a derisory power supply of only 3 to 4 megawatts.
Unsanitary markets and failure of basic services
Wild urbanization asphyxiates the region. Verella describes untenable scenes: three-metre-high waste mountains near markets, a total absence of sewage systems, and public procurement without roofs and electricity. Direct consequence: traders desert inside markets to settle anarchically on sidewalks, causing monster traffic jams impossible to regulate. At the health level, the finding is equally alarming, as is the case with the Justinian Hospital, which is deprived of a functional X-ray service.
A 2030 plan inspired by Henri Christophe
Malgré ce sombre tableau, l’ingénieur Verella ne baisse pas les bras. Il vient de coordonner un plan de développement à moyen terme (2025-2030) pour le Grand Nord, incluant une dizaine de documents stratégiques touchant le transport, l’énergie, le numérique et la revalorisation des chaînes agricoles (café, cacao, pêche). Pour concrétiser cette vision inspirée du Roi Henri Christophe, l’ancien ministre affirme qu’il faut impérativement de nouveaux dirigeants « tête droite « , sensibles à la misère du peuple, et un accent massif sur trois piliers : l’éducation technique, l’éducation environnementale et le civisme.
W.A.
