Haiti - Politic : Towards the strengthening of municipalities
Saturday evening Jean Marie Reynaldo Brunet, the new Minister of the Interior held a working meeting with representatives of the National Federation of Haitian Mayors (FENAMH). This meeting was part of the dual approach of strengthening ties of the Ministry with the local authorities and the need to strengthen the capacities of municipalities.
During this working session, an inventory of current files was drawn up. Discussions also took place on the difficulties surrounding the use of communal funds and the urgency of addressing arrears on allowances and debts accumulated for the patron saint's feasts.
In addition, the representatives of the various associations of mayors took the opportunity to advocate the formalization of so-called "gateway" projects. In this sense, they expressed the wish to see the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT) to mobilize 1 million gourdes for the benefit of each commune eligible for these community support projects.
For his part, Minister Brunet invited the members of FENAMH, representing the mayors of the 140 communes of the country, to advocate with their peers, to establish and for some strengthen their communal development plan. Requesting FENAMH to encourage all mayors to undertake a better animation of their territory with the support of the MICT.
Finally, Brunet said he wanted to "encourage and support the efforts of mayors for tax mobilization, with the support of the relevant state institutions, such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the General Tax Directorate" and involve the know-how of its entire team, in order to establish with FENAMH, relationships based on trust and obligations of results.
