Friday, President Michel Martelly, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Evans Paul, attended the inauguration of the dam and of irrigation system of Rivière Grise, in Dumay (Croix-des-Bouquets) at Bassin Général.

The ceremony was attended, among others by, Jean François Thomas, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Ariel Henry, Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities, the Ambassador United States accredited to Haiti, Pamela White, the President of the Irrigators Association of Rivière Grise and of local authorities.

The construction of the dam began in May 2014 and funded by a grant of $ 9 million from the US Government, includes a 450-meter structure that crosses the Rivière Grise diagonally composed of steel plates 9 to 12 meters long, nested one inside the other and driven into the ground up to 9 m, to form a dam that diverts water from the river into an irrigation system on a permanent basis, with a maximum flow rate of 10 m3 second.

This new infrastructure will help improve the income of 15,000 farmers in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac whose irrigated area will increase from 5.000 to 8.500 ha (from Tabarre to Cité Soleil via Croix-des-Bouquets). In addition, 50,000 families will now be protected against flood threats.

The Head of State visited the facilities and the dam and addressed on behalf of the Haitian people, its sincerest thanks to the US Government and declared "This is exactly the kind of accompaniment we need in Haiti : of projects that generate autonomous means of production. This is a significant step that will make the Haitian agricultural sector through this modern infrastructure."

"The major projects such as the construction of the dam on the Rivière Grise, the project Agritrans https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12257-haiti-agriculture-$27m-for-the-production-of-bananas-for-export.html in the Northeast, the Project Saly Flood Way https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7988-haiti-agriculture-410-million-gourdes-for-agricultural-infrastructure-works.html in Artibonite, the construction of fruit and vegetable packaging center https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9399-haiti-agriculture-pilot-centre-of-conditioning-for-fruits-and-vegetables-of-kenscoff.html in Kenscoff, to name but a few, will have a positive impact on the socio-economic fate of the entire population [...] Every project that succeeds in the agricultural sector, will only improve production and create new jobs. Agriculture remains the answer to the needs, both economic and food of our compatriots." He also encouraged the irrigators' associations, responsible for the management of the system and the public, "to protect this achievement and properly maintain the dam [...]".

HL/ TB/ HaitiLibre