"Today, the system run by Dinepa is considered the most efficient and sophisticated in Haiti."

Guy de Sainte Claire first set out for Haiti as a volunteer in March 2010. Two months after the earthquake that ravaged the island, his diagnosis laid the foundation for the rebuilding of the water system in Petit-Goâve. The master plan for rehabilitation became the backbone of the two-year program. Three months after the system's inauguration, we take a look at the project with a volunteer and sponsor who is almost surprised at how well it has all turned out.

You were in Haiti for two weeks after the earthquake that ravaged the island in January 2010. What prompted you to become a Veoliaforce volunteer?

I became interested in the Veolia Environnement Foundation's response after the tsunami that struck southeast Asia at the end of 2004.
Like all of the company's employees, I was aware of the many things being done on the ground, and I went to the Foundation's website to apply to be a volunteer.
A year later, I took Veoliaforce training, and, then, one day in March 2010, I received a call from Franck Haaser, the Foundation's Emergency Director. He proposed that I leave for Haiti that very week!

As a result of your first assignment in Haiti, you suggested a way of rebuilding the water supply system in Petit-Goâve. Less than two years later, the system was inaugurated. How did you feel at the end of the project?

I was very proud! To be honest, I didn't think that we would manage to do it so quickly. The system was rebuilt according to European requirements, in other words, to last a long time. The materials are particularly robust and we factored in the risk of another earthquake. So the pipes have express joints that won't come apart if another earthquake occurs.

You were there again for 10 days last November to optimize the system's chlorination and prepare a report on the program.

That's right, and although we were surprised by the excellent quality of the water at Petit-Goâve, we had a few disappointments when it came to the system's operation. We modified the reservoir's hydraulics and erected an additional building for operations. We also replaced the pipe leading to the three new valve chambers. But, beyond this, water is being carried to consumers by the old distribution network, which is a mess. Haitians connect to the system illegally to wash their dishes and clothes, and the network sucks up the dirty water. You can imagine the nightmare!

How can this type of behavior be stopped?

By raising awareness and education. We explain and explain, keep repeating the message and little by little a sort of self-regulation takes hold.

The person living on the next street understands that if there's no drinking water today, but she had some yesterday, it must mean that there's a problem higher up in the system. For this, we found powerful allies in the people at Haiti's water and sanitation department, Dinepa. The local team is very concerned, since it has been behind the project from the beginning.

The program also had a "training" aspect broad enough that, eventually, Dinepa would be able to maintain the system. How did that go?

Dinepa now has new offices and one of the annexes is a warehouse where parts, drills and anything else needed to maintain the system are stored. Personnel have been taught how to detect leaks and are determined to maintain the current level of service. The system they are running is considered the most efficient and sophisticated in Haiti. In Petit-Goâve, Dinepa's employees are the only people on the island to have flow-based chlorine regulation and to know how to set the amount of chlorine in the water. And those are good reasons for being proud!

What do you think this system will be like in a few years?

When we came here two years ago, we felt that the facilities left behind by the Americans decades before were in pretty good shape. And when we left in November, Sébastien Renou, my opposite number in the French Red Cross, and I agreed that in 50 or 80 years, others might well be saying, "Those French, they really did a good job!" In a nutshell, we left behind a Rolls Royce that the Haitians have the key for and know how to drive.

 

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> Haïti, janvier 2010