Workers hired by Magalie Habitant complain to AyiboPost of non-payment, sometimes for several weeks
The sulphurous Magalie Habitant has been walking the streets of the lower part of the city since the beginning of July as part of a public clean-up campaign criticized by the mayor of Port-au-Prince.
Workers hired by the former director of the National Solid Waste Management Service (SNGRS) complain to AyiboPost of non-payment, sometimes for several weeks.
Despite the gangs’ influence, the former director of the SNGRS – convicted in 2021 for embezzlement and mismanagement – travels to areas controlled by the bandits without any apparent harm.
Magalie Habitant surrounded by her staff between Rue Nicolas and Avenue Magloire Ambroise. 23 July 2024
Contacted by AyiboPost on July 23, Habitant maintains secrecy over the initiatives financial arm.
She boasts support from the « private sector » and claims to have six trucks to collect the litter.
Despite her sulphurous reputation and high-profile forays into gang-controlled areas, Habitant enlisted the help of established authorities in her clean-up campaign.
The mayor of Pétion-Ville, Staco Amazan, revealed to AyiboPost that a « backhoe loader » from the municipality has been loaned to Habitant for the first day of the campaign.
On May 20, 2024, the Presidential Council announced a sanitation program to clean the streets of the metropolitan area with a budget of one billion gourdes.
The municipality of Pétion-Ville is awaiting a response from the Prime Minister after submitting a project as part of this initiative, Mayor Amazan told AyiboPost.
Out of five trucks owned by the town hall of Pétion-Ville, only three are operational, complains the official.
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In Port-au-Prince, the mayor’s office is skeptical of the council’s plans. The state provides « no support to the town hall of Port-au-Prince » and this project « has no future, » maintains magistrate Lucsonne Janvier.
Janvier denounces the support provided to Magalie Habitant, rather than the town hall.
« Why do the private sector and the State who support Magalie Habitant’s sanitation project never accompany the town hall of Port-au-Prince? » asks Janvier.
The National Equipment Centre (CNE) continues its activities and does not collaborate with Magalie Habitant, its director, Kineton Louis told AyiboPost.
« We will continue to work in the accessible areas until the State makes the other areas accessible, » he said.
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The workers in the controversial campaign come largely from the many temporary shelters and camps scattered around Port-au-Prince.
On Tuesday, July 23, two dump trucks and a backhoe-loader with private license plates were seen on Avenue Magloire Ambroise.
This equipment was followed by a white rental car.
Magalie Habitant’s car and her workers on Avenue Magloire Ambroise. July 23, 2024
« It’s Magalie Habitant’s car, » says a resident from the area on the scene.
The two trucks collect waste to deposit it at the bottom of the city, he says.
One of the trucks picking up trash in the lower part of the city of Port-au-Prince.
Charles has already been working in the clean-up campaign for 10 days. Although the job is scheduled to last 15 days, he still does not know what his salary will be.
A father of three, he has been living in a shelter camp in the Haitian capital since the bandits of Grand Ravine attacked the Carrefour-Feuilles district. He relies on this work to pay for his children’s schooling.
Shovel in hand, the septuagenarian crosses Avenue Magloire Ambroise to get to Rue Nicolas, where there is a pile of rubbish that he has to pick up.
It’s noon, but he looks exhausted from what promises to be a very long day. He says he has been working since this morning without having eaten. He also doesn’t know when he’ll be paid.
Another worker we met on the way, Alexis, shares the same difficulties in getting his salary.
He explains that he has already worked 22 days without pay.
Workers from Magalie Habitant’s clean-up campaign gather rubbish at Rue Magloire Ambroise. July 23, 2024
In July 2021, the Court of Auditors and Administrative Litigation ordered Habitant and SMCRS executives to return more than 38 million gourdes to the public treasury in a case of embezzlement and mismanagement.
On February 4, 2022, Magalie Habitant was invited to appear at the Port-au-Prince Public Prosecutor’s Office under the judgment of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation against her management.
But Habitant spurned this invitation.
Since then, there has been no follow-up on the case.
It is unclear whether the political operator’s prosecution will continue and whether she will return the misspent fund to the Haitian State.
Cover image: Magalie Habitant at the bottom of the city of Port-au-Prince | © Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost
The photos in the article are by Fenel Pélissier
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