Introduction: Mr. Michel Martelly’s presidency has stalled. The Haitian Senate disqualified first Prime-Minister pick Daniel-Gerard Rouzier because he failed to prove that he is a Haitian citizen.  Second pick Bernard Gousse was rejected even faster because of his horrible human-rights record. Mr. Gousse had previously persecuted at least one of the senators who evaluated his dossier. The Haitian Senate is cooler still to Martelly’s next project of renewing the mandate of the illegally created CIRH (Commission Interimaire pour la Reconstruction d’Haiti): a brainchild of Mr. Clinton and his wealthy friends.  Below, a recent report of the Senate’s Public Works Committee gives a hint of things to come.

- Dady Chery,
Axis of Logic

Clinton’s CIRH Commission Declared a Fraud By Haitian Senate Port-au-Prince

(Translated by Dady Chery)

August 11, 2011 - (AHP) - The Public Works Committee of Haiti’s Senate met Thursday with representative of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation Communications (MTPTC) Jacques Gabriel about several ongoing projects attributed to the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (CIRH) and other important issues.

Committee Chairman, John William Jeanty said that the meeting with Minister Gabriel shed light on what he calls the "bluffs" of the CIRH.

According to the understanding of the 2nd Senator from the Nippes Department after the meeting, "A set of projects that the CIRH claims to have financed for the MTPTC have instead been funded by donors like the European Union and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) before the formation of the Commission".

The Senator accuses the CIRH of appropriating for its balance sheets the projects of several ministries.  He said that the participation of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whom they are passing off as the facilitator of funding to the CIRH, is not as important as we are made to believe.

Other topics such as the operation of Electricité d’Haiti (EDH), the network of telephone operators, the National Centre of Equipment (CNE) were also discussed, said engineer Jeanty without giving more details.

The Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication said he furnished clarification on some projects mentioned in CIRH documents for which information on financing has been “long coming.”

This especially regards, he said, plans for the construction of roads mentioned in the Commission documents under the heading "Support for Transport" which provide as examples the stretches Gonaïves-Ennery, Croix des Bouquets-Malpasse, and Petit trou-Petite Riviere de Nippes.

"We provided an update on these projects and discussed the possibility of launching the projects that are already approved, or initiating studies for projects not yet evaluated " said the outgoing Minister of Public Works.

Source: AHPHaiti.org (French)