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 Regions and Countries - Americas - Countries A-Z Index - the Americas - Haiti - Stories from the Field - Jacmel, City of Light
Jacmel, City of Light
In the lobby of a hotel in Jacmel,
a local artist has proudly illustrated the
power lines rehabilitated thanks to Canada
with the collaboration of Hydro-Québec.
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Beautiful and charming Jacmel, population 35,000, is a clean and quaint little town in southeastern Haiti. Since 2000 the Government of Canada has been working with Hydro-Québec to rehabilitate thermal and hydro-electric power plants and distribution and marketing networks. As a result, Jacmel residents enjoy high-quality, uninterrupted electrical service.
Jacmel residents pay for the service and the entire town is proud that it now has electricity 24 hours a day. In other parts of Haiti, this is the exception rather than the rule.
The capital, Port-au-Prince, gets only a few hours of electricity per day. To survive the frequent, and sometimes prolonged, blackouts, the more fortunate equip themselves with a dozen car batteries and an AC/DC converter, or a generator and other special accessories, at a cost of more than US$5,000. Otherwise, they have to do without power.
Since February 2004, Canada has been providing Jacmel with ongoing support. It has carried out a series of initiatives to address the administrative problems created by the changing political situation and maintain electrical power, an essential service for a population already dislocated by the crisis. In the coming months, CIDA will continue supporting the Centre de Jacmel through investments in system expansion and upgrades with technical support from Hydro-Québec.
Canada is pleased by the success of the Centre de Jacmel energy project. Today, the utility is becoming a sustainable institution. This project should be reproducible elsewhere in Haiti.
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