Un nouveau plan d’aménagement urbain du Cap-Haïtien (Le Nouvelliste)

Le Premier ministre haïtien Laurent Lamothe, en compagnie de quelques membres de son cabinet, a reçu, à la Primature ce lundi 1er septembre 2014, une délégation de Now Institute de l’Université de Californie à Los Angeles (UCLA) conduite par Michaëlle Jean, l’envoyée spéciale de l’Unesco pour Haïti, pour une réunion de travail autour du « Plan d’aménagement urbain et d’extension du Cap-Haïtien et de Milot ».
« On ne peut plus se permettre d’avoir une entrée comme celle du Cap-Haïtien […] Ce n’est pas digne de cette ville qui a tant à offrir au monde de par sa culture et son histoire », s’est exclamée, horrifiée, Michaëlle Jean, envoyée spéciale de l’Unesco pour Haïti. Cette dernière, avec la verve qui est la sienne, a défendu tout au long de la réunion la pertinence de ce plan.
« C’est un dossier urgent pour le développement du tourisme et pour l’image de la ville du Cap », a soutenu l’ex-gouverneure générale du Canada. Présente à cette séance de travail, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, ministre du Tourisme et des Industries créatives, s’est montrée très emballée par la présentation de ce plan ainsi que par ses probables retombées pour le tourisme. Si jamais il était mis à exécution.
Pour la ministre, ce plan pourrait être à l’origine d’une réplique de la ville de Venise au Cap-Haïtien. Pour ce faire, le plan doit être en mesure de désenclaver la grand-rue et de transférer tous les magasins qui s’y trouvent en dehors de la ville. Il est question aussi, à travers ce plan d’aménagement urbain, de maintenir propre la rivière à l’entrée de la ville du Cap et de réparer les maisonnettes construites dans cet environnement.
Frédérick Mangonès, architecte et partenaire de Now Institute, porteur de ce plan d’aménagement urbain, s’est dit prêt à relever le défi. Néanmoins, il sollicite l’implication de l’État, en sus du versement des 200 000 dollars américains nécessaires à l’étude de faisabilité de ce plan, afin d’avoir un accès total à l’information. Sinon, comme des dizaines d’autres avant lui, ce plan est voué à l’échec.
Par ailleurs, Michèle Oriol, secrétaire exécutive du Comité interministériel pour l’aménagement du territoire (CIAT), a plaidé en faveur de la création d’une autorité d’aménagement. « Le moment est maintenant venu pour la création d’une autorité d’aménagement car les plans sont faits et ne sont jamais respectés », a déclaré Michèle Oriol. Pour cette dernière, rien n’empêche l’exécutif de commencer à plancher sur la préparation d’un arrêté créant cette autorité d’aménagement.
Le chef du gouvernement, très concentré durant tout le déroulement de la réunion et qui n’a cessé de prendre des notes, a promis à l’équipe de Now Institute le support de l’Etat haïtien. Il a en outre demandé au CIAT et au Now Institute de travailler d’arrache-pied en vue de la présentation d’un plan d’aménagement pour plusieurs autres villes de province.
Au cours de ces 10 dernières années, le Now Institute,  un centre de recherche urbaine en architecture et en urbanisme à l'UCLA, a établi un partenariat avec des organismes privés, des décideurs et des organisations non gouvernementales à Los Angeles, New Orleans, Madrid, Pékin et Port-au-Prince pour offrir aux architectes la possibilité d’associer l’urbanisme à des domaines incluant la culture, la mobilité, la revitalisation urbaine et la durabilité.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Vers l'exécution d'un plan d'aménagement de la ville du Cap-Haïtien
 Le Premier ministre, Laurent Lamothe, s'est entretenu, lundi, avec l'envoyée spéciale de l'Unesco pour Haïti, Michaëlle Jean, autour d'un important projet d'aménagement de la ville du Cap-Haïtien visant à mettre en valeur le potentiel touristique de la ville et dynamiser l'économie de la région.
Selon un communiqué de la primature, ce nouveau plan d'aménagement devra aussi permettre de supporter les travaux effectués par le Comité interministériel de l'aménagement du territoire (CIAT) et s'étendra à tout le département du Nord ainsi qu'au Nord-Est, en particulier la ville de Fort-Liberté qui représente un haut lieu de notre histoire.
Cette démarche s'inscrit dans la vision du Gouvernement Martelly/Lamothe de promouvoir le patrimoine historique, archéologique et touristique du pays. À cet effet, des experts internationaux, en provenance du Now Institute de l'Université de Californie à Los Angeles (UCLA), travaillent avec les autorités haïtiennes afin d'élaborer un plan qui répond aux besoins réels d'aménagement des villes du Cap-Haïtien, de Fort-Liberté et de Milôt, une manière de faciliter le développement de la région.
Le plan vise notamment la réhabilitation urbaine du quartier Shada, à l'entrée du Cap-Haïtien, qui, selon les vœux du Gouvernement Martelly/Lamothe, doit être la vitrine de la ville, un des pôles importants de destination touristique. Le Gouvernement s'engage à définir un plan spécial pour ce quartier, qui prendra en compte l'amélioration des conditions de vie de la population.
A ces projets, notamment aux études des plans directeurs qui devront être menées par le Now Institute de concert avec le CIAT, le Gouvernement Martelly/Lamothe va mobiliser 200 000 dollars américains et s'engagera à ce que les propositions qui en résulteront soient appliquées.
Le Gouvernement Martelly/Lamothe continue de multiplier les actions visant l'amélioration de l'image du pays à l'étranger en vue de le replacer sur la carte touristique du monde.

EJ/Radio Métropole Haïti

American Airlines to expand its flights to Cap-Haitien - by Haitiantreasures.com

CAP-HAITIEN ABOUT TO WELCOME LARGER AIRCRAFT

What many people have been waiting for a long time is about to happen in Haiti's countryside. The expansion of international flights to the North will soon allow passengers from Miami to go directly to the city of King Henri Christophe. Beginning October 2, 2014, the giant North-American carrier American Airlines will provide daily nonstop service to Cap-Haïtien, one of Haiti's best tourist destinations.

According to Minister of Tourism, Stephanie B. Villedrouin, "In terms of tourism, the North has long been the historical capital by excellence! With this new access to the outside world, the success of this destination is guaranteed."  As a matter of fact 30 to 35 percent of American Airlines' Haiti-bound passengers traveling from JFK, Miami International and Fort-Lauderdale currently transit in Port-au-Prince before heading to Cap-Haitien.

"Considering the North region's potentiality in terms of attractions, such as the amazing Citadelle Laferriere the biggest fortress of the Americas, the ruins of Sans-Souci Palace, Royal Caribbean’s private beach in Labadee, Cormier Beach, Vertières, Bréda, the historical city of Cap-Haitien is a major location standpoint for the revival of tourism in the country", added Stephanie Villedrouin.

The Cathedral Notre-Dame of Cap-Haitien in front of La Place d'Armes

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ27ln6pCdc?rel=0]

Excerpt from Haiti's Hidden Treasures Part II, documentary showcasing Haiti's incredible landscape and history

Financed by the government of Venezuela and equipped with security materials provided by the US government, the newly renovated Cap-Haitien Airport now called the Hugo Chávez International Airport with a 7,500-foot runway will be ready to welcome the first major American flight to Cap-Haitien through a brand new terminal. In the past 10 years, this airport has already accommodated some international flights from Miami, Orlando and the Caribbean. In October 2012, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and her husband, visited the area aboard a modified 757 large aircraft to attend the Caracol industrial park’s opening.

Pierre Chauvet, CEO of Citadelle Travel Agency in Port-au-Prince and former president of the Tourist Association of Haiti welcomed the arrival of American Airlines in Haiti’s second largest city, stating that will be a gate opener to Florida market and will definitely boost tourism in the North. Others said that it's a great deal for the city of Cap-Haitien and neighboring regions, the economy, and the diaspora. Still, Haitiantravelers are complaining about the airline-ticket prices, which they would like to see dropping to facilitate the return of more visitor

Haiti returns to the tourist map

By Ian Thomson  -ntelegraph.co.uk/

Following the devastating earthquake four years ago, the 'beautiful, bedevilled’ Caribbean island of Haiti is ready to welcome visitors, says Ian Thomson

Rum punches on the veranda of a gingerbread hotel, delicious in the tropical noon… the sound of drums, rumbling in the hills, reaching your room at night. Haiti will always be entrancing for those in search of an out-of-the-way experience. It has echoes of west Africa – the houm-doum-do from that Vodou gathering – and a dash of French custom and Latin devil-may-care cool. This was apparent on my first visit almost 25 years ago in 1990, when I gathered material for a book about the Caribbean island, Bonjour Blanc.

Last June, I returned to beautiful, bedevilled Haiti for the first time in 10 years. I was itching to see how it had changed since I wrote the book and what damage had been left by the terrible earthquake of January 12 2010. This time, I would not be travelling by jitney, lorry or fishing boat, but in taxis and air-conditioned tourist coaches.

^{Jacmel’s colourful crafts}

From the air, Haiti is a sun-scorched clinker; deforestation, caused by a ruinous cutting of timber for charcoal, has destroyed much of the green. As the plane rolled smoothly along the tarmac at Port-au-Prince, the capital, a group of musicians at Immigration were shaking maracas and strumming guitars in welcome. Bright-coloured advertisements for Haitian beer and rum adorned the walls. The airport looked like any other in the West Indies.

Port-au-Prince was as exhilarating and exhausting as I remembered it. The streets, thronged with pack animals, porters and ambulatory salesmen, were a human ant heap. The smells I knew so well from the earlier visits – jasmine, burning rubbish – hit me forcefully and it was as though I had never been away.

Related Articles

• Haiti: A land of vibrant music and culture

  04 Sep 2012

• Haiti: check in to Hotel Vodou

  29 Feb 2008

• Caribbean travel guide

  09 Oct 2013

• Best activity holidays in the Caribbean

  25 Oct 2013

• Caribbean island-hopping by air

  24 Oct 2013

• The best Caribbean beaches

  21 Oct 2013

• Camping holidays for the whole family Canvas Holidays

 

Parts of the city were visibly still damaged from the earthquake. One of the worst natural disasters in Caribbean history, the earthquake claimed up to 316,000 lives. The National Palace was turned to dust; the twin-spired Episcopalian cathedral, the Palais de Justice and the Palais des Ministères were all pulverised. The convulsions lasted just 35 seconds, but a more graphic image of municipal chaos would be hard to imagine: the heart of Haiti’s national and civic life had been razed. Rich and poor alike were reduced to a state of homelessness and despair.

^{Art for sale on the street in Pétion-Ville}

Now, four years on, Haiti is a nation on the road to recovery. The tent cities have mostly gone and I was impressed by the industry of rebuilding and sense of hope for a new start. No traveller should feel put off. The Haitian government is wooing travel companies in Europe and North America. Things are still a long way from perfect – Haiti lacks the refinements of its Caribbean neighbours – yet the US State Department considers the country safe for tourists, while the Foreign Office warns only against travel to four specific slum districts in Port-au-Prince: Carrefour, Cité Soleil, Martissant and Bel Air. Given all this, it will not be long before the first charter flights and cruise ships arrive. I would urge people to visit now, before the country is marketed as the “edgy new Cuba” and loses something of its haphazard allure.

Next day, I took the local Sunrise Airlines flight to Cap-Haïtien in the north. On a mountaintop there stands a fortress they call the Eighth Wonder of the World. It was built by King Henri Christophe of northern Haiti, who committed suicide with a silver bullet (they say) in 1820 following a coup. Obscured by clouds, the Citadel is overwhelmed at first by the king’s rococo palace of Sans Souci, intended to be the Versailles of the New World. With its terraced steps mounting like a ziggurat temple, Sans Souci resembles an Aztec or Sumerian ruin; tangled with lianas, the palace is a luminescent, haunting relic of state power.

^{Iron Market art}

Tourists can reach the Citadel by foot or hired horse; the walk uphill takes about two hours, but it is worth it. The Citadel was built as a defence against a return to slavery. A mass of titanic stone apparently welded to the landscape, it towers above the trees on Pic de la Ferrière like a gigantic Crusader castle. Inside, I was shown a maze of passageways, oubliettes and galleries laden with English and French cannon. They say Christophe was buried here in quicklime to deny the mobs his corpse. The view from the ramparts is one of the most magnificent in the western hemisphere: a great antiquity of mountain, forest and sea.

No visit to Haiti would be complete without a Vodou ceremony. Vodou reflects the rage and ecstasy that threw off the shackles of slavery. On the night of August 15 1791, a ceremony was held outside Cap-Haïtien that marked the beginning of the African slaves’ revolt against the colonial French. (Haiti, the world’s first black republic, gained independence in 1804.) For many Haitians, Vodou is a way to rise above the misery of poverty and the devastation wreaked by hurricanes, mud slides, storms and other natural disasters. When a Haitian is possessed by a loa (spirit) he is taken out of himself and gratefully transformed.

^{Football in Canaan}

To attend a Vodou ceremony, you have to follow the rumble of drums into the countryside. This I did on my birthday, June 24, St John’s Day. In Vodou, St John the Baptist (Sen Jen Batis) is a powerful, rum-drinking divinity who is propitiated with bonbons and bottles of alcohol. At the village of Trou-du-Nord, not far from the Citadel, the night air was dirty like a smoked ceiling and eerie with the barking of dogs. Around the parish church of St John the candles and the swaying, crowded bodies suggested a Mexican Day of the Dead.

Crowds stood around the edge of the Vodou temple made of woven palm-thatch; they paid me no mind. The mambo (priestess) was sweating and jiggering her shoulder like an epileptic, her hands loaded with masonic rings and bangles. The drummers, bashing furiously, looked similarly possessed. A peaceable religion, Vodou is derived from the rites and beliefs brought to Haiti by African slaves in the 1600s. It is as old as Christianity.

The main town on Haiti’s south coast, Jacmel, is a glory. Steamships used to sail there every month from Southampton, exchanging tweeds for coffee. Today the coffee exporters’ houses with their wonky verandas recall the French quarter of New Orleans. The Hotel Florita, off Rue du Commerce, is a beautifully restored 1880s town house with teak floors and overhead fans that used to belong to the American poet and art collector Seldon Rodman. From the Florita you can travel by horse or minibus up to the bassin bleu – blue pool – along a beautiful, jungle-like trail in the hills. The waters of the bassin, a series of amazing blue-green natural aquifers, are deliciously cool on sun-heated skin. I stripped down to my underpants and dived in. With the vault of bright blue sky above, I was in heaven.

^{The streets of Haiti}

Back in Port-au-Prince, I made a beeline for the Hotel Oloffson, a magnificent gingerbread mansion made famous by Graham Greene in his Haitian novel The Comedians. Illuminated at night, the hotel was a folly of spires and fretwork. Hurricane lamps flickered yellow, showing white rattan furniture. I had not seen the manager, Richard Morse, since I proposed marriage here in 1990 (I went down on two knees to Laura after a burst of gunfire startled me).

“Ian, it’s been too long,” said Richard, laconic as ever. Not only had he kept the Oloffson open all these years, but he fronts a world-class Vodou rock band, named RAM after his initials. The band played so well that Thursday night in the hotel that I thought I would levitate out of my seat. Past guests have included Noël Coward, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando and Mick Jagger (who wrote Emotional Rescue there). Laughably, a room had been named after me as the author of Bonjour Blanc.

By day, Port-au-Prince is a study in bedlam. The roads are crammed with buses known as tap-taps from the noise of their vintage engines; painted with psychedelic flamingos and palm trees, they list perilously and belch smoke. The Iron Market, a block of bargaining and bawling, is a great arched structure in vibrant reds and greens, with minaret-domes that might have come from India. It is the best place to buy fantastic Haitian paintings, raffia bags, globular straw baskets or Ali Baba jars. I bought a chromolithograph of my birthday divinity St John and a bottle of Haitian Barbancourt rum (five-star), pure ambrosia.

Tired and in need of a drink, I headed for the magnificent National Pantheon Museum, a sleek underground structure across the road from the razed National Palace. Inside was a display of rusted iron manacles, chains, branding irons, muzzles and other implements of slavery, along with portraits of the Haitian national heroes Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Forged in the crucible of French colonialism, Haiti was once the most profitable slave colony the world had ever known.

After a week in Haiti my time had almost run out, and I felt the same emotion as 10 years ago, a mix of impatience for home and regret at leaving. Haiti is one of the most astonishing places – a west Africa in the Caribbean. I found a courage and humour in the face of desperate odds that was like an intoxication of hope. Change cannot come too soon; I can’t wait to go back.

Ian Thomson’s 'Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti’ is published by Vintage in a new and revised edition.

When to go

December to March are coolest. Carnival is held each February after Shrove Tuesday to mark the start of Lent. It is Haiti’s biggest party and, for me, the best time to go. The Carnival of the Flowers takes place in late July.

Flying time and difference

Eleven hours; GMT minus 5 hrs.

Getting there

American Airlines (020 7365 0777; americanairlines.co.uk), British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com) and Delta Air Lines (0871 221 1222;delta.com) fly via New York and Miami. Air France (0870 142 4343;airfrance.co.uk) and Air Caraïbes (aircaraibes.com) fly via Paris and Guadeloupe. The other option is to fly to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. From there it is a two-hour road transfer to Santo Domingo, then a 40-minute flight on Sunrise Airways (sunriseairways.net).

Packages

G Adventures (0844 272 0000; gadventures.co.uk) has just launched its Haiti programme and Undiscovered Destinations (0191 296 2674;undiscovered-destinations.com) also has trips organised. Wild Frontiers (020 7736 3968; wildfrontierstravel.com) has two tours scheduled for 2015, on sale from September, while Exodus (0845 287 7658;exodus.co.uk) plans to introduce a Discovery trip to Haiti next year. For details of other tour operators, visit experiencehaiti.org .

The best hotels of a budget

Hotel Oloffson ££
This truly magnificent, historic gingerbread hotel in Port-au-Prince is where the more adventurous stay. Thursday night is music night and well worth attending. Service can be a bit haphazard but what you lose in convenience you gain in atmosphere. Rooms from $100/£59, suites from $200/£118 (3810 4000; hoteloloffson.com).

NH Haiti El Rancho ££
Art deco folly that used to be a favourite with Richard Burton and the New York crooner Harry Belafonte, with splashing fountains and Italianate marble floors. Partially rebuilt after the earthquake but still lovely. Rooms from $120/£71 (0034 91 398 46 61; nh-hotels.com).

The best luxury hotels

The Karibe Hotel (2812 7000; karibehotel.com), Best Western (2814 2222; bestwesternpremierhaiti.com) and Royal Oasis by Occidental (royaloasishotel.com) all offer more luxurious if somewhat bland accommodation. Rooms from $160 (£94).

The best restaurants

Le Plaza Hotel £
Has an excellent Creole buffet every Wednesday lunchtime, and a barbecue buffet on Sunday evenings, accompanied by a Haitian twoubadou (countryside troubadour) band with drums, maracas and guitars (10 Rue Capois, Port-au-Prince; 3701 9303/2940 9800;plazahaiti.com).

Hotel Oloffson ££
Its lovely veranda restaurant is still one of the best places for breakfast in Port-au-Prince (60 Avenue Christophe; details above).

Le Quartier Latin £££
Atmospheric, bourgeois-bohême gourmet restaurant and nightclub with live salsa and meringue (10 Rue Goulard, Place Boyer, Pétion-Ville; 3460 3326/3445 3325; email: brasserieql@gmail.com).

Tips

The village of Croix-de-Bouquets, eight miles outside Port-au-Prince, is a must for carved iron sculptures of Vodou divinities and other art pieces.

The Galerie Nader on Rue Grégoire in Pétion-Ville has superb Haitian fine art for sale.

Always carry American $1 notes, the preferred currency, for bottles of water, tips, snacks and taxis.

Regardless of your colour or race, you will be amicably addressed as “blanc”, which in Haitian Creole means “foreigner” as well as “white”.

Never dole out gifts of sweets or chewing gum, as this creates resentments locally and puts street vendors out of business.

The popular beach resorts are on the Arcadins Coast, 45 minutes north of Port-au-Prince. In Cap-Haïtien, Labadie beach is famous as a cruise ship destination. The Cormier Plage Resort hotel (cormierhait.com) outside Cap has a lovely private beach, a silver strand by moonlight.

Currency

The local currency is the Haitian gourde. HTG77 = £1. Most travellers use US dollars. HTG45 = $1.

Visas/vaccinations

No visa is required. Immunisations against diphtheria, tetanus, polio, hepatitis A and typhoid are strongly recommended. The oral cholera vaccine Dukoral is sometimes suggested depending on where in Haiti you are going. Anti-malaria prophylaxis is essential.

Further information

See experiencehaiti.org. The Bradt Travel Guide to Haiti by Paul Clammer is strongly recommended. My own hybrid of history and adventure, Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti (Vintage), is still the only major modern travelogue about Haiti.