Paillant

In the southern part of Haiti sits Paillant (Créole: Payan), a tiny village with an estimated population of 16,000 inhabitants. Part of the Miragoâne Arrondissement, which is part of Nippes Department, the metropolitan heart of the village lies hidden behind mountain ranges on the Tiburon Peninsula. Like Miragoâne, it lies below Ile Gonave and an inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Paillant was carved out of the southwestern area of Miragoâne City. Two communes comprise Paillant: Bezin and Salagnac.

Paillant, formerly the 6th Communal section of Miragoâne, became a commune in the favor of the law of September 2003. The area has bauxite red soil resting on a calcareous substrate and at different depths had been a bauxite extraction site for approximately 30 years from 1952 to 1982 by the Reynolds company; it benefits from the facilities (premises, depots, villas, Wharf) and an asphalted, well-maintained and busy road.

The traffic of the Miragoâne area regularly consists of cars, motorbikes, tap-taps and trucks which also carry food products to Miragoâne, Port-au-Prince, Fonds-des-Nègres.

Economy: Two rural markets (Monday, Thursday, Friday) operate regularly at Lebrun and Mussotte, localities of Paillant. Merchants from Port-au-Prince supply mainly to Mussotte on Mondays and Thursdays.

Paillant is a locality rich in natural resources. Its basement contains, it appears, calcium carbonate mines. Its bauxite was operated on by the American company Reynolds Haitian mines from 1957 to 1982. Its rich and varied mining potential can be put into operation. An initiative that will contribute to the revival of economic activity and will guarantee to this locality important inflows in strong currencies. They also have pink marble mines, and an incredible amount of farmland, these lands have always been the first source of income for its inhabitants.

Environment: Because of its extraordinary climate of sweetness and freshness, all the civil servants, employees, and businessmen of the city of Miragôane, generally sleep quietly in Paillant.

Paillant has strengths and weaknesses on the biophysical level. On the agricultural level, the municipality of Paillant has enormous advantages in regards to its great agro-diversity. It is able to produce a wide variety of foodstuffs including cereals, edible roots and tubers, vegetables, spices and fruits. Breeding is also possible. The commune also has tourist potential in relation to the beauty of the landscape, the tranquility and serenity of its unspoiled environment.

Paillant is part of these rare places in Haiti, where you can still stand and watch the beauty and natural state of Haiti by its wonderful landscapes, because the inhabitants of this commune, did not perform any havoc on the heritage that is theirs.

Infrastructure: As in other parts of the Miragoâne Arrondissement, specifically Fonds-des-Nègres, roads are nearly impossible to travel on. Few paved roads exist, the majority of them dirt and rock-embedded conduits of vehicular traffic. Travelers complain constantly of tires wearing out quickly.

No airport serves the community in Paillant and travelers must access either Les Cayes,Jacmel, or Port-au-Prince International Airport.

Healthcare: Paillant has a single hospital that was in shockingly bad disrepair for many years. In 2008, a non-government organization, Haiti Help Med, donated funds to restore the hospital to its former functioning capacity.

Government responsibility: Like much of Haiti’s smaller communities, the deplorable condition of roads and long distances required to reach an airport serve to isolate communities. The government of Haiti (GOH) needs to make one of its chief priorities the improvement of the transportation infrastructure all over Haiti. It can’t continue to leave it up to aid organizations. It must take on its share of responsibility by including major road work funding in its next annual budget.