Fils Aimé Ignace Saint Fleur, the Director General of the Bureau de Monétisation des Programmes d’Aide au Développement (BMPAD) committed to collaborating in the ongoing investigation into the dispute between the Haitian State and the company Preble-Rish Haïti S.A. for "suspected corruption" appeared on Friday, August 16 at the invitation of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) accompanied by his lawyers.

For nearly 5 hours, Saint Fleur answered, with serenity and calm, the investigators’ questions and demonstrated to them that his administration worked in complete transparency and in compliance with the laws of the Republic. He also reassured the ULCC of his availability and willingness to provide all useful additional documents and information that could support the facts and reestablish the truth.

In addition, he explained to the ULCC investigators, that he had done everything, within the limits of his prerogatives, to preserve the higher interests of the Haitian State in this case. This is why he did not authorize any payment that did not comply with the prices indicated in the minutes of the opening of the tenders of April 30, 2020, signed by all the members of the tender opening committee as well as by all the bidders of the petroleum products order contract including the official representative of Preble-Rish Haiti S.A. having won the public contract and published on the official website of the BMPAD.

It should be recalled that this investigation was requested by Prime Minister Garry Conille to shed light on payments made for Preble-Rish Haiti S.A. without authorization from the BMPAD and outside the contract concluded. In June 2023, New York Federal Judge P. Kevin Castel upheld a $28 million arbitration award against the Republic of Haiti to be paid to Preble-Rish Haiti S.A.

Given the stakes and importance of this case for the country, it is to be hoped that the investigators' work will be carried out with the greatest possible professionalism, rigor and impartiality.

BMPAD welcomes the investigation and calls on everyone's good faith and probity to create an environment conducive to its completion with complete impartiality. BMPAD, like all of Haitian society, expects truth and justice to triumph.

SL/ HaitiLibre