«Reaching out to all Jean-Rabelians. We love Jean-Rabel»
ELECTRICITY
WATER SUPPLY, WASTE WATER, SEWER, AND SANITATION (SNEP - Service Naitional d'Eau Potable)
In 1968, Rev. Marcel Cornet started work on a water supply network system from the Carteron Aquifer located in the South side of the town. In 1980, the Communal Council in coordination with UNICEF repaired the network, replaced the Metal pipes with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), and constructed a Cistern on Pastor Brown Hills in order to supply many houses that can afford the price. Jean-Rabel faces key challenges in the water supply and sanitation sector. Access to public services is very low, their quality is inadequate and public institutions remain very weak despite forein aid (FAES, ID, USAID, ANOSA, CARE, etc.). The main public institution in the water sector in Jean-Rabel is SNEP, a state-owned enterprise and created by its own law. It is responsible for secondary cities and, in theory, for rural areas. SNEP is created in 1977 by the government of Jean-Claude Duvalier to provide cost-effective water while maintaining the quality of life in communal and rural areas of Haiti (CAMEP, another public entity, is in charge of metropolitan areas). SNEP is theoretically under the authority of a board comprising of representatives of several Ministries. Since the board has not met for more than a decade, SNEP is de facto under the sole control of the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications (MTPTC). Currently, MTPTC does not have a water and sanitation directorate and any long-term policy or performnace targets. Despite the establishment of a drinking water network, Jean-Rabel public water utility suffer form serious dysfunctions, notably due to a lack of regulation of consumption (flat-rates fees are charged for water due to the absence of metering). Waste, supply ruptures in some areas, a drastic fall in income, and technical deterioration of the network are some of the main ways these dysfunctions manifest themselves. The Jean-Rabel local office of SNEP is managed by Mr. Isaac Civil assisted by Mr. is in need of implementation of a management system. The network need technical rehabilitation and expansion despite the routine repairs performed by the two hired and approved (certified or non-certified?) plumbers, Mr. Duvalier and Mr. Boniface Athis. There is no institutional responsibility for Waste Water or Water Treatment, Sewer, and Sanitation. Jean-Rabel does not dispose of a Waste Water Management Office or a Sewer System Infrastructure. As far as Sanitation, the Mayor office manages the Street Cleaning Service (removing debris from the city street and the city market place). The revenues of SNEP barely cover operating costs, leaving insufficient resources for maintenance and no resources to self-finance investments. Non-Payment is not penalize by water cutoff and cannot be enforced through the legal system. SNEP's central office receives some support from the Ministry of Finance to cover part of its personnel costs and a portion of the revenues of its local offices, but its budget remains inadequate to allow it to function effectively.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
The followings are non-existent: Garbage disposal/pick-up; Household hazardous waste; Recycling; Solid Waste At a minimum, solid waste are disposed by individual household. Sometimes they are dumped on the street hoping that the street cleaning crews will removed the waste. Some households prefer to use a wheel-barrel to dump the waste on the river bed because of the absence of a dumping site or landfill.