Pestel

Pestel is located in Haiti in the Grand’Anse Department in the Corail Arrondissement. Around 36,138 people inhabit this place. Pestel is a place, difficult to get out to and hence too many people don’t go there.

Formerly Pestel was called Pastel; it is the name of a former French settler. The town was founded in 1829 and raised to the rank of commune officially in 1929. The town has five communal sections. The city is coastal. Its dominant relief is the hills and its climate is normal. The population of the municipality of Pestel was estimated at 47,039 inhabitants in 1998 with a projection of 51,000 in the year 2004.

As for the economic and financial infrastructures, the town has a hotel and five restaurants. Agriculture, trade and fishing are the main economic activities of the inhabitants of the municipality. Residents stock up in Port-au-Prince, Camp-Perrin, and Jérémie. At the time of the survey, there was no economic establishment such as: petrol station, private mortuary, pharmacy, etc in the commune of Pestel.

Education: Two doctors and three nurses are available at practitioner level. Basic medical care is provided to families living up in the mountains. Along Pestel’s coast are a public school and other schools run by Charitable organizations.

Healthcare: The Ministry of Public Health and Population is represented by an administrative management office. A hospital and five public clinics were identified in the commune with a doctor, about a dozen auxiliaries and nearly two dozen other persons attached to the technical staff.

Utilities:Regarding the water potential of the town, it is very poorly provided. It has only one river, two springs, two ponds and three public fountains. There are prolonged dry spells, known for leaving the people travelling across to other communities in search of water. There was no access to cell phone or electricity in the year 2007. Citerns were used to collecting water then, but now the place is progressing. More cisterns have been constructed and Chateau D’eaus are installed to provide families with water. The city of Pestel, the Cayemites and Pointe Sable are electrified. For the first two the frequency of power supply is four hours per week and daily for the third.

Security: With regard to the administrative and judicial infrastructures, there is only one police station with nine policemen, a court of peace and no prison.

Religion: Twenty-four Catholic churches, seven Baptist churches, an Adventist church, ten Pentecostal churches, 3 Wesleyan churches, a Kingdom hall of Jehovah’s Witness and a church of an American Mission were counted in this commune.

Organizations: In the commune of Pestel, there are two political parties, three popular organizations, a peasants group and two women’s groups.

Communication: There is a telephone call center which contains thirteen cabins. There is no post office, radio station, newspaper / magazine, nor TV station in the municipality of Pestel.

Leisure: In terms of Leisure, the town has a library and a theater built since the colonial era, it is the theater of the locality of Clement. There is no museum or cinema room. The only sport practiced is the football (soccer), there are also eight gaguères. For the cultural heritages, this town has two colonial sites located in the city of Pestel and in the village of Desrivaux. It should be recalled that there were some activities known as Fête de la mer “Sea Day” in Pestel, but since 1994, these activities have been suspended.