Friday a few hundred residents of Île-à-Vache, especially from the areas of Madame Bernard, Apointes, Baleraz and Soled demonstrated on the island, to express their fears of being displaced from their property [granted mostly by the Duvalier regime] to make way for new hotels, tourist sites and public infrastructure, which will be built under the project "Tourist Destination Île-à-Vache".

Fears that would not founded [or prematured ?] accordiing to Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism, who stated that no relocation or expropriation had taken place on Île-à-Vache explaining that "the National Office of Cadastre is only in the process of collecting information about various properties, especially those that overlook the sea, places that the government intends to promote..."

The Deputy Me Jean Fenel Tanis (Constituency Cayes/Ile-à-Vache) would (according to some sources), informed the public that their movement was inevitable for the smooth running of the project, about visibly less nuanced.

Recall that the developed and undeveloped properties are affected by this project and that the government issued a decree in May 2012 declaring the Île-à-Vache, and other islands of the country, zones of tourism development of public utility...

Fears of the owners are even less unfounded, that the Minister of Tourism also indicated that families who owned houses on parcels affected by the new construction should be relocated on the island, in new houses built by the Government in designated areas...

Several demonstrators demanded more dialogue with the government on the implementation of the project. The Minister of Tourism, who launched an appeal for calm to the residents of the island, said she was willing and open to meet the population in order to provide more information, saying that the project "will not only help to put Île-à-Vache on the world tourist map, but will help in the economic progress of the people of this zone," and make "the pride of all Haitians."

Download the Presentation of the project of tourism development of the Île-à-Vache :

https://www.haitilibre.com/images/IVA_Presentation_Projet.pdf

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-10109-haiti-tourism-progress-of-projects-and-work-in-ile-a-vache.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9600-haiti-tourism-official-presentation-of-the-project-destination-ile-a-vache.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9270-haiti-tourism-official-launch-of-project-tourist-destination-ile-a-vache.html

S/ HaitiLibre