Dekonble lakou lakay

Depis apre 12 janvye, tout kote nou pase nan lari Port-au-Prince se kay kraze. Lè moun yo wè dekomb ap ba yo pwoblèm bo lakay yo , yo retire yo men se nan mitan lari yo mete yo, ki vle bay yon pi gro pwoblem. Yon nan pwoblèm sa yo nou te gentan wè, se pwoblem blokis. Ak dekonb nan lari, machin vin pi difisil pou sikile , e nou te deja pat gen bon rout. Nou te fè yon ti sòti nan zon Kristwa pou n aprann plis sou pwoblèm dekonb.

Lè nou tap pale ak moun kap leve dekonb yo, nou te mande yo poukisa se nan mitan lari a yo deside mete dekomb yo. Atout yo we ki gwo pwoblem sa ap bay nan lari a ? Gen yon moun ki tap vin vide nan lari a te reponn nou li di : » depi dat kay yo fin kraze, leta pa janm deside fe anyen pou nou. Nou oblije metel nan mitan lari a, o mwen lè sa leta ap we li koz yon gwo pwoblem, la resi voye yon machin vin ranmase l ».

Nou poze yon lot moun kesyon, kote nou te mande l, Ki pwoblem dekomb lan bayo lel tou pre lakay yo? Epi gen yon dam ki te reponn nou ki di : » le dekomb lan tou pre lakay nou gen moun ki tou pwofite vin vide fatra sou li, lè konsa fatra sa yo konn kale moustik ki ka ba nou plizye maladi tankou malarya, tifoyid ect… Epi le lapli tonbe dekonb lan fe labou devan pot lakay nou. Lè nap antre li konn pemet nou tonbe. »

Nou komanse wè ke kesyon sa ap bay anpil pwoblèm pou moun nan kominote a, pa sèlman nan domen transpò. Nan pale ak moun sa yo, nou te aprann tou ke pi fò travay nan retire dekonb, se pa leta ayisyen kap fè l, se òganizasyon entènasyonal. Si òganizasyon yo ki deja sou pye nan domen sa tap mete tèt ansanm avèk gouvènman pou ta genyen yon kote disponib nan chak kominote lè yo leve doknb la yo pa tap bezwen bloke lari a, yo ta kapab jete l direk. Konsa li tap genyen yon bon rezilta pou popilasyon an ni nan sante, ni nan trasnpò, ni nan rekonstriksyon peyi a.

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Removing rubble from the country's backyard

Ever since January 12^th, everywhere you go in Port-au-Prince, you see crumbled buildings. When the rubble starts to get in the way of residents daily lives, they are forced to remove it. But where does this rubble end up? It ends up in the streets outside, causing another set of consequences. One of the consequences we had noted was increased traffic, which was a challenge in this city even before the earthquake. We went out into the neighborhood of Christ Roi to find out more from residents about the effects the rubble caused.

When talking with those removing rubble in the area, one of the questions we asked was why they were dumping rubble in the streets when everyone can see this causes problems. Some of those working explained to us, “since the day these houses crumbled, the state hasn’t done anything for us. We are forced to dump it in the streets, because at least this way the government can see it is a problem and they are forced to send a truck to remove it.”

We also asked residents of the area what other issues rubble causes when dumped in the streets. One woman in the neighborhood explained, “when there are piles of rubble in front of our house, people take advantage and start dumping their trash here, too. The trash starts to attract mosquitoes and flies and along with them come viruses like malaria, typhoid, etc. When it rains, the rubble gets muddy too, making the entrance to the house slippery and dangerous.”

We began to see that the issue of rubble causes a series of problems for residents of the city, which go beyond just traffic. From talking to those in the area we also learned that most of the rubble removal happening now is not actually the work of the government, but international NGOs. If these organizations already active in removal could begin partnering with the government to have fixed dump sites in each community and a set schedule for removal trucks, those clearing out the property would not need to dump rubble in the middle of the streets. This would benefit the population at large not only in the realm of transport, but also in health, and the reconstruction process at large.