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A Better Road for a Better Life: Improving Access for Residents of Port-au-Prince

Published 03/15/2011 by Global Communities

A Better Road for a Better Life: Improving Access for Residents of Port-au-Prince
The road is not only “pure misery” for the lives of those living there but also due to its poor state, it blocks up traffic and makes the capital’s transportation problems even worse. At the same time, stagnant muddy waters that are left over from rains add to the unsanitary condi-tions of the city that is living through a national cholera outbreak.
CHF International with USAID funds is now working to change this situation by constructing the road and paving it in concrete and building in drainage and sidewalks. Together with the Haitian Pub-lic Works Ministry and the Municipality of Delmas and Port-au-Prince, CHF is making sure that this vital axis road connecting the main thoroughfares of Delmas and Bourdon will finally be accessi-ble and livable to all.
For Felix, 58, who has lived in the neighborhood for 22 years making this road will not only be a relief but also a way for his community to develop. “The whole community is happy with this project and so relieved that it is finally happening and personally I think that we can’t move forward and develop if there isn’t a good road.”
The finished road which will run 1,100 meters and apart from serving the area’s community of 75,000 residents will become one of the major connecting routes between two of the capital’s zones.
When this project is finished it will be a great improvement for us the taxi drivers and will help the traffic situation and make life much easier for us.”When this project is finished it will be a great improvement for us the taxi drivers and will help the traffic situation and make life much easier for us.”Robert Gaetan, a taxi-motorcyclist who uses this road a lot, says that for him this project will be a “deliverance”. “When it rains, this road is completely muddy, the ravines overflow and at times it even becomes a river of water,” says Robert astride  his motorcycle as he waits for his next customer.
The road’s local pharmacist agrees. “I think that there will be much more develop-ment in the area,” says Joseph Bernard, 33, pharmacist. “Already since the project began I have begun to feel another air in my economic activities.” Standing at the door of his pharmacy, Joseph nods emphatically and adds, “I am 100% satisfied with this great and beautiful project because I can see already that in the future the results will be better in my pharmacy business.”
Nearby, Bernard Telle in his barbershop agrees with Joseph. “I obviously think that as soon as the road is finished the barber shop will function much better,” says Bernard, 29. “Because,” he explains, “more people will frequent the shop and the price will go up.”