Mole Saint-Nicolas

Môle-Saint-Nicolas is a commune on the north-western coast of Haiti. It is the chief town of the Môle Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement in the department of Nord-Ouest.

Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas landed at the site of what is now Môle Saint-Nicolas on December 6, 1492. The town received its present name after France gained control of the western part of Hispaniola in 1697.

History: On December 6, 1492, the day of St. Nicholas Columbus landed with his men for the first time in the island he baptized “Hispaniola” (“The Spanish”) on the site of the future commune of Mole-Saint-Nicolas.

Following the Seven Years’ War, the French decided to fortify the strategic site of the bay of Mole-Saint-Nicolas, excellent shelter which keeps the passage of the Wind, constituting a true “Gibraltar of the Caribbean”. Thus, in 1764 a small town with a squared plan named after the bay is created, it is the current village of Mole-Saint-Nicolas.

August 31, 1798, the English General Thomas Maitland hands the keys of the city of the Mole to the black general Toussaint Louverture during the war of the fortifications (Revolution of Toussaint Louverture), in accordance with the negotiations concluded during the armistice of March 30, 1798 which had made it possible to regulate the details of the retreat of the English army of Santo Domingo, before the triumphal entry of the black general and his army of ex-slaves in Port-au-Prince on May 16, 1798.

Economy: From the point of view of the Economic and Financial Establishments, the commune is very poorly provided. There were only five restautants, three caisses populaires and a marketing co-op with a very small staff. For the other types of economic and financial establishments, the Molois are obliged to go to other neighboring communes to carry out their transactions.

Currently the Môle Saint-Nicholasville economy lives off 60% fishing, 15% goat farming and 25% agriculture: pistachio , corn , potato , fig , banana , cassava , coconut , etc.

Its natural beauty, its fine white sandy beaches, its wide bay sheltered from the winds, its fairing, bathed by a clear and bluish sea, its corals where multitudes of multicolored fish live, its exotic and luxuriant panorama, its streets traced to cordeau and its colonial vestiges, its fine gastronomy, its caves, present real tourist potentialities. They are not currently used. However, since the beginning of 2009, the city is organized around a dynamic town hall to develop an authentic tourism and to prove to the alternative traveler that Haiti is not only the poorest country of the northern hemisphere as the city proclaims. Western imaginary. In the manner of the famous participative democracies of its Latin American neighbors, the city of Le Mole brought together all the good will.

Access to Môle-Saint-Nicolas is by plane, 30 minutes from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. By road, 8 hours from the capital by roads with landscapes as varied as our culture, or by boat.

Education: In terms of education, the Ministry of National Education of Youth and Sports is represented in the municipality of Môle St-Nicolas by a school inspection office. The person in charge is an inspector in charge of the supervision of all the schools at the level of this commune. The distribution of schools at the primary level is four public, numerous private and seven secondary schools, divided into two public three private and two congregational.

Health: The municipality of Môle St-Nicolas does not have representation of the Ministry of Public Health and Population. The health establishments are four in number: two dispensaries and two health centers. In addition, a team of doctors, dentists, nurse, auxiliaries, certified matrons and a laboratory technician provide the sanitary service at the commune level.

Utilities: As for water availability, a river and four sources have been inventoried in the municipality of Môle Saint Nicolas. Regarding electricity no area of ​​this town was electrified, at the time of the survey.

Security: With regard to administrative and judicial infrastructures, the municipality of Mole St-Nicolas has a court of peace, a police station and there is a prison.

Religion: Nearly 56 temples of all beliefs have been inventoried in the municipality of Mole St-Nicolas. These confessions are: Catholics, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecotists.

Organizations: With regard to political parties and organizations, the distribution is as follows: two political parties, a federation of popular organizations, a Christian association, two peasant groups, a women’s group, three non-commercial cooperatives and three NGOs.

Communication: The municipality of Môle St-Nicolas does not have newspapers, magazines nor television stations but it has two radio stations, one is in town and the other is in a communal section.

Leisure: As for Leisure, seven gâgares are the main places of entertainment for the inhabitants of the commune. For other types of entertainment, there are four football (soccer) fields and a movie theater. Concerning the cultural heritages, one has inventoried monuments and sites which are of historical type, located only in the city. It should also be noted that Christopher Columbus, after his long journey, cast anchor at Mole Saint Nicolas on December 6, 1492.

Future development: 

On the site where, in 1492, Christopher Columbus landed, a new frontier of strategic development will take place in a plan mapped out by the IBI-DAA group for the Nord-Ouest department’s Môle-Saint-Nicolas.

The town, home to just over 4,000 people will benefit from the plan, set out earlier in November by the group’s Vice-President, Rene Hubert, to Mr. Wilson Laleau, Minister of Economy and Finance, as well as deputies, senior officials and senators. Technological progress has been steadily trickling into the area, with them having received cellular phone capability six years ago when Digicel erected a network tower in the area. Môle-Saint-Nicolas is also one of the only places in the country where the roads are fit for sturdy vehicles.

Now, being added to the town’s list of advantages in four steps, will be the creation of a maritime corridor, a strong historical component that ties in with advanced plans for tourism–including the development of cruise ship ports and the possibility of inland excursions and water sports–, the use of the area’s natural resources as well as the production of alternative forms of energy. The town is right on the coast of Haiti’s North shore, and its coast sees a depth favorable to the development of a port for potential international transit and other commercial endeavors.

Already, there is a port for the distribution of charcoal, one of two main industries for Môle-Saint-Nicolas resident’s, however, since the production of charcoal destroys forest land, new strategies like the new development plan, should come as welcome news to those who live and work there.

This statement is so true. Haiti is really too rich to be poor, based on its geographic location and resources. I am going to take Mole Saint-Nicolas as an example.

Earlier this week, a draft Strategic Development Plan of Mole Saint-Nicolas was presented to the government. The development is focused on four major areas: the development of maritime corridor, the promotion of Haiti history and tourism, development of alternative energy production and the exploitation of natural resources.

According to the developers, Mole Saint-Nicolas is located in the best possible location to take advantage of the channel of the wind and the depth of its coastal waters. The development of wind and solar renewable energy is a big potential.

Investors also have a vision to develop a port of international maritime transit in Mole Saint-Nicolas linked to an industrial development and a potential of commercial activities.