Charcoal is produced in Haiti by the traditional forest production process which consists of stacking a pile of wood in a pit or in a mound, then covering it entirely with earth and setting it on fire.
Haiti’s largest industry is ghostly. The charcoal business generated US$300 million in 2012 according to the Office of Mines and Energy. The money changes hands without putting a name and a face on those who pocket the colossal sum. It’s a total lack of transparency.
Carbon production is done by farmers in wooded areas in Grand’Anse, on the country’s southern and northwestern sides. The wood, turned into carbon, satisfies 70% of the country’s energy needs and is used to cook, in laundromats and bakeries, among others.
None of the knowledgeable sources of this informal industry were able to give Le Nouvelliste and the Center for Investigative Journalism the names of the entrepreneurs behind the savage exploitation of this non-renewable resource, which is wood. However, three sources consulted for this investigation claim that these phantom entrepreneurs sell coal to retailers in major cities. Most of the consumption takes place in large cities, such as Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves, and Cayes, among others.
The former Haitian Minister of the Environment, Dieuseul Simon-Desras, confessed that throughout his mandate he could not identify a single entrepreneur who financed this business. In addition, he said that there has been no real will from this or previous governments to fight against this trafficking.
Also René Jean-Jumeau, former Minister in charge of Energy Security, confirmed the lack of willpower on the part of the governments. “There is no real will to rationalize the use of coal. A real will to manage the problem of charcoal passes through a rational and sustainable production and the use of alternatives, like other forms of coal or a portion of propane and agricultural waste,” said the man who is currently the executive director of Haiti’s Institute of Energy, a private institution.
Simply Focus