Documents obtained exclusively by AyiboPost pose doubts on management of the money raised for the border canal.
According to the official website of collection of money For the canal on the Masacre River in Juana Méndez, Haitian and foreign taxpayers have contributed almost half a million US dollars and almost 43 million gourdes (RD$18 million) to the initiative.
He money remaining will not be enough to complete the construction works. constructionaccording to the committee.
However, documents non-public obtained by AyiboPost pose doubts Over the bills already made by the committee, seven months after he took office.
For example, the summary status of bills, covering the period extending between September 19, 2023 and early 2024, shows payments to journalists of sums sometimes of up to 150,000 gourdes (RD$65,000) per bills of information and “perks.”
BSAP Agents
Committee members were “rewarded” with amounts ranging between 25,000 and 120,000 gourdes (RD$8,700 and RD$53,000).
The agents of police normally paid by the State received tens of thousands of gourdes from the committee.
The Protected Areas Security Brigade (BSAP) collects its own moneybut the documents held by AyiboPost attest to several transfers worth hundreds of thousands of gourdes to the structure. These amounts are paid for the service of surveillanceconfirms to AyiboPost the treasurer of the committee, Gaston Étienne.
Direct beneficiary of the bills
He businessman and Pastor Moïse Joseph is the member of the committee that assumed the vast majority of the main resources related to the construction of the Chanel. His name is associated with about a hundred transactions important, according documents obtained by AyiboPost.
Sometimes Joseph is a direct beneficiary of the resources, since he is the owner of a company that works in the field of construction.
Moïse Joseph admitted to AyiboPost that his company “sells services” to the channel committee, which appears to represent a blatant conflict of interests. According to Joseph, his company supports the project even when there are no financial resources available.
The total expenditure recorded until April 25, 2024 amounts to more than 101 million gourdes (RD$44 million), confirms Michele Adrianmember of the commission finance of the committee.
However, according to Moïse Joseph, the remaining balance cannot guarantee the completion of work on the canal.
The citizen Michelle Hilaire is collecting money for the initiative in Canada, through the “Mouvman Kanal la Pap Kanpe” (MKPK).
On January 1 of this year Hilaire distributed $2,500 to “journalistsetc.”, of a sum of 10,000 dollars destined for the canal committee, indicates a list of bills in dollars obtained by AyiboPost.
Hilaire did not respond to requests for comment before publication. The list of journalists remunerated is not public either.
The ideal of “konbit“with contributions from businessmen to a national cause little is reflected in the preliminary document of bills for the construction of the Chanel.
The operator of the excavator alone costs the committee at least $200 a day.
Rental costs and maintenance of the excavator amount to at least $46,500, according to the documents.
The name of a committee member, Moïse Joseph, was associated with that of a man known as Henri Claude Audate, in a scandal of theft of gabions at the construction site. According to documentson March 20, 2024, 200,000 gourdes (RD$87,000) were released to pay a law firm lawyers in this case.
Joseph Moïse confirmed to AyiboPost that a law firm was indeed hired. lawyers to defend this cause, which he considers initiated by political hands to tarnish his image.
expenses without bills
Guillaume Josaphat is part of the committee. He is one of the initiators of the movement that resulted in the resumption of the works of construction of the channel in August 2023.
Josaphat managed bank accounts and the first contributions of the committee, which was installed on September 19, 2023.
Michele Adrianfrom the commission financecriticizes the latter for not having yet presented a report detailed – apart from a list of bills without bills– from his management.
At AyiboPost, Josaphat rejected the accusations. These are, according to him, “political negotiations.”
The Haitian technology company HtiPay Inc collect money for the channel and provides real-time updates on most of the transactions.
Voices are raised online to demand a report detailed of the money received and bills made.
According to computer scientist Haveson florvildirector of HtiPaythe lack of technical knowledge of the committee members is one of the causes that makes this accountability work difficult.
In addition, there is a problem of assigning roles and a game of influence among the committee members, he continues. florvilwho sometimes participates in the structure’s meetings.
In an interview granted to AyiboPost In November 2023, the committee’s spokesperson, Wideline Peterspoke of his discontent with the monitoring of bills “not very detailed” available on the website HtiPay.
Peter wants a report detailed that can be presented to the press.
“I don’t manage the money of the channel, but this topic of the information “It is a torment for me, who speaks on behalf of the committee,” he declared. “At times I even thought about resigning.”
Contacted by AyiboPost, the Treasury Commission said that it had made efforts to make effective the traceability of the transactions.
This does not prevent a member of said commission from highlighting technical errors such as bills unrecorded and sometimes recording a transaction multiple times.
Paying to journalists
Some committee members are using the initiative to generate political capital, according to several sources familiar with these maneuvers.
According to the document titled “summary of bills“, on October 11, 2023, the committee spokesperson, Wideline Peterhad obtained the disbursement of 150,000 gourdes (RD$65,000) for 30 journalists that covered the construction of the channel for its media.
Ethics prohibits a journalist from accepting money of the sources and subjects of his work. But Peter maintains that it was a decision made by the entire committee.
Between the months of October and November 2023, a fortnight of journalists They had received 5,000 gourdes (RD$2,000) as a “gratuity” from the committee. It is unclear whether these payments continue today.
There are several sources of collection of money.
More than 100 deposits totaling US$143,362.35 were made into the committee’s bank account at UNIBANK, one of the documents obtained by AyiboPost.
About thirty deposits are registered in the UNIBANK gourde account for a total of 7,439,987.06 gourdes (RD$3,564,15.96).
Cash donations are estimated at around fifteen million gourdes, according to the accounting of those responsible for HtiPay.
According to Michele Adrianof the Treasury, the person responsible for HtiPay, florvildid not want to share specific data about the amounts collected on the online platform.
For his part, Haveson florvil told AyiboPost that the committee as a whole never showed a real desire to produce a report detailed.
“The Htipay team will force the committee members to make public the report. We can block your access and all transactions on the platform,” threatens florvil.
It should be noted that the relationships between the platform collection of money and the construction of the channel have evolved over time.
At first, HtiPay was part of a solidarity initiative by making its computer system available free of charge for the construction of the Chanel.
However, as of January 1, HtiPay cobra rates for each transaction and demands an amount for each service requested by the committee, confirms Haveson florvil.
The committee has already paid 150,000 gourdes (RD$65,500) to HtiPay by an automatic report creation system, as confirmed by both parties to AyiboPost.
Haveson florvil presented to the committee a first part of the report for the period between September 1, 2023 and January 15, 2024, and a second part between January 16, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
Another must be submitted report for the period April 1-30, 2024, says Haveson florvil.
According to Michele Adrianmember of the Treasury, the report created by the platform HtiPay submitted by Haveson florvil It is riddled with errors.
“This report It is not consistent with ours. It is not reliable. It will be left aside. The Treasury is working to finalize its report to present it to the public shortly,” he says. Adrian.
Some committee members do not want all the details of the spending revealed in the report public, according to interviews conducted by AyiboPost.
Wideline Peter
Wideline Peterwho was in France last January to participate in meetings with the Haitian community, is generating tensions, according to other members of the committee.
Upon his return to the country, Wideline Peter did not want to present to the committee a report of his visit to France, arguing that it was “a personal trip.” This version of events is confirmed by Peter.
The War cold keep going. From February to the present, Wideline Peter no longer participates in committee meetings, reports Guillaume Josaphat.
Wideline Peter she mentions the transfer of the meeting place to Ferrier as the reason for her absence, because she is worried about her safety.
At the same time, there is a rivalry over the political consequences of the construction of the channel between the spokesperson Wideline Peter and the coordinator Moïse Joseph, according to several testimonies and the confession of one of the interested parties.
Pending a final decision on whether or not to distribute a report detailed of the bills of the committee, various structures and personalities continue to raise money for the construction of the Chanel. Normally, they should be accountable to the public. But there is no indication that they will do so.
This article is a Spanish translation of its French original.
