30 Sep 2010

HAITI / IRRIGATION

Financed by UNDP, WFP and a local firm, some 15 km of irrigation canals in the Southern Haitian town of Torbeck are undergoing rehabilitation with the aim of increasing agricultural production in the area. MINUSTAH

Posted at: September 30, 2010 2:40 pm

Duration: 03:24

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: HAITI / IRRIGATION
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
TRT: 3.24
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE:  CREOLE/ NATS

DATELINE: 19 SEPTEMBER 2010, TORBECK, HAITI

SHOTLIST:

1.	Wide shot, canal with workers
2.	Close up, workers unloading bags of Portland cement
3.	Various shots, woman with wheelbarrow
4.	Various shots, workers laying down the floor of the canal
5.	Pan left, Mimose Felix overseeing the work
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Mimose Felix, Executive Director of GRAPHES:
"This project has several objectives:  it aims at creating jobs, as well as generating revenues. Priority is given to the masonry work by a group of young women who were trained at a masonry school for nine months. They had no jobs so they were lucky to find a place where they can practice what they just learned. The project also gives priority to farmers who use their own land"
6.	Close up, cattle
7.	Wide shot, flowing water
8.	Various shots, workers cleaning the canal
9.	Med shot, agronomist overseeing the work
10.	SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Emilson Joseph, Chief of project at GRAPHES:
"The work is to clean out the canals that were clogged with sediment. So once cleaned, the water will be able to flow in the canals to irrigate farmers' plantations. Farmers will receive water on time. Water availability will allow the irrigation of fields and will increase agricultural production"
11.	Wide shot, peasant leaving his house
12.	Med shot, peasant working the land
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joanès Joseph Phirma, Farmer:
"At first, I invited some people out of goodwill to come and clean the canals. When the project started everybody put their hands to it. I realized that it is a good activity, it will protect the gardens, because the fields were dry and now they will receive water on time."
13.	Med shot, Mayor sitting behind his desk
14.	Close up, Mayor flipping pages
15.	SOUNDBITE (Creole) Pierre Ernst Voltaire, Mayor of Torbeck:
"I sincerely believe that the project has a positive impact. First of all, it allows working parents to buy books and send their children to school. Besides that, it also cleans the canals. However, we do not always find NGOs to finance ditching or cleaning activities. But when we clean the canals used to irrigate our own land, I find it strange that it is always the foreigners who do the job instead of us."
16.	Various shots, workers building canal walls
17.	Wide shot, agronomist walking along the canal.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Renand Vaillière, Project Coordinator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
"Irrigation of the land will make the soil more fertile, there will be more rice and the production will increase. You'll see there will be much more rice. The population will have food, but also we will be able to sell the rice at the local market. And with that money, people will take care of their children and send them to hospital if they are sick. Also they can now pay the scholarship for their children. Therefore, we in UNDP believe that this project will serve the community."
18.	Pan right, from canal to field worker

STORYLINE:

Some 15 km of irrigation canals in the Haitian Southern town of Torbeck are undergoing rehabilitation.

The work is being financed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and a local firm, GRAPHES, which is executing the project.

The objective is to increase the agricultural production in the area.

The irrigation system of the town of Torbeck had not been operating at full capacity. Old canals were, in some places, crumbling and filled with silt.

The pilot project to rehabilitate the canals was launched after the 12 January earthquake. It has helped provide work for about 768 people. 50% of them are women displaced by the earthquake.

Their employer is the Support Group for the Economic Rehabilitation of the Haitian Family (GRAPHES), a local NGO headed by the agronomist Mimose Felix. GRAPHES intends to rehabilitate 15 km of existing irrigation canals in the town.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Mimose Felix, Executive Director of GRAPHES:
"This project has several objectives:  it aims at creating jobs, as well as generating revenues. Priority is given to the masonry work by a group of young women who were trained at a masonry school for nine months. They had no jobs so they were lucky to find a place where they can practice what they just learned. The project also gives priority to farmers who use their own land"

Thanks to the project, 36 hectares of land area will be irrigated for cultivation.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jean Emilson Joseph, Chief of project at GRAPHES:
"The work is to clean out the canals that were clogged with sediment. So once cleaned, the water will be able to flow in the canals to irrigate farmers' plantations. Farmers will receive water on time. Water availability will allow the irrigation of fields and will increase agricultural production"

Joanès has been cultivating his own piece of land for over 20 years; he found that the cleaning will bring much improvement to the community. He thinks that when the plantations are irrigated the crops will grow.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joanès Joseph Phirma, Farmer:
"At first, I invited some people out of goodwill to come and clean the canals. When the project started everybody put their hands to it. I realized that it is a good activity, it will protect the gardens, because the fields were dry and now they will receive water on time."

The City Council of Torbeck has authorized the initiation of these activities at six sites within the town. The mayor praised donors for their continuous support of these projects. However he said that every citizen should organize themselves in order to solve other problems faced by the municipality.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Pierre Ernst Voltaire, Mayor of Torbeck:
"I sincerely believe that the project has a positive impact. First of all, it allows working parents to buy books and send their children to school. Besides that, it also cleans the canals. However, we do not always find NGOs to finance ditching or cleaning activities. But when we clean the canals used to irrigate our own land, I find it strange that it is always the foreigners who do the job instead of us."

The town of Torbeck is one of the largest agricultural fields of the southern department. Once completed, the irrigation area will help farmers produce more food for the local population.