Overview:
Residents near Fort-Liberté, the main city of the Northeast Department, demand that authorities open a new landfill and waste management center as trash accumulates around the site. A missing weighbridge, essential to its operations, keeps the donor-funded waste facility offline while trash piles up and health concerns grow in the city.
FORT-LIBERTÉ — More than four months after Haitian officials and international partners inaugurated a modern landfill intended to transform waste management in the Northeast Department, the facility remains closed, forcing nearby municipalities to dump garbage around the site and prompting residents to demand immediate action.
The landfill cannot begin operating until a weighbridge—an essential scale for weighing garbage trucks—is installed, according to Luckin Charles, the Ministry of the Environment’s regional director for the Northeast.
“It’s the weighbridge, which is not yet operational, that is preventing the site from functioning normally,” Charles said.
“It will be used to measure the volume of waste entering the facility. This is considered essential for managing landfill operations.”
The Morne Casse Technical Landfill Center, located between Fort-Liberté and Ouanaminthe, officially opened on Jan. 30. Built by Haiti’s Ministry of the Environment with $8 million in support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Japanese government, the 22,000-square-meter facility was designed to replace informal dumping sites that have long contributed to pollution and public health concerns across the region.
Instead, residents say the area surrounding the landfill has become an open-air dump.
Every day, garbage trucks from Fort-Liberté, Ouanaminthe and Ferrier communes unload waste near the facility while authorities wait for a critical piece of equipment needed to begin operations.
“Foul odors, environmental pollution and the accumulation of waste threaten the health of Duma’s residents,” said Lucien Elusma, a farmer who lives in the Duma communal section near the site.
For residents, the consequences extend beyond sanitation concerns.
People traveling between Duma, Ouanaminthe and Ferrier routinely pass piles of garbage. Farmers say cattle and goats forage through the waste, raising concerns about animal health and food safety. During rainfall, residents report that runoff from the trash flows into nearby ravines and agricultural land.
Partial view of the area near the newly built landfill in Haiti’s Fort-Liberté, where trash surrounds the unopened site. Photo by Edxon Francisque/The Haitian Times.
Questions remain over the delayed opening
While officials point to the missing weighbridge as the immediate cause of the delay, questions remain about why the equipment has not been installed more than four months after the facility’s inauguration.
Charles said municipalities have recently stopped using older dumping sites and are now depositing waste around the new center instead, making the problem urgent to resolve, according to the regional director of the environment.
A source familiar with the project, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, alleged that funds intended for the weighbridge purchase were mishandled. But The Haitian Times could not independently verify the claim. A project manager did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“The person entrusted with purchasing the weighbridge allegedly left the country with the funds,” the source said.
No public investigation or official confirmation of the allegation has been announced.
In March last year, authorities reported that the landfill project was stalled because of a $300K shortfall.
Then, the same month, during a site visit, Ministry of Environment experts identified several critical issues that need immediate attention:
- Lack of heavy-duty waterproof plastic sheets, which are crucial to isolating waste and preventing soil contamination.
- Poor water management, requiring adjustments to prevent runoff and flooding.
- Absence of a scale, making it impossible to track waste intake efficiently.
- No selective waste sorting system, limiting recycling and proper waste management.
- Flood barrier structures below safety standards, requiring reinforcement to prevent overflow.
- Lack of waste compaction equipment, particularly a bulldozer, reducing the landfill’s lifespan.
Work resumed a few months later, with project managers reducing the landfill area from 48,000 to 22,000 square meters and spending just about $2 million of the $8 million in allocated funds. The site was inaugurated this year, with residents expecting it to be fully operational then.
Charles said responsibility for managing waste around the site falls to the National Solid Waste Management Service (SNGRS). He added that the agency currently has no representative stationed in the Northeast Department.
The SNGRS Director General, Daril Balthazar, did not respond to a request for an interview about the situation.
A major landfill project in Northeast Haiti faces delays due to a $300K funding gap and critical infrastructure issues.
Residents say pollution is worsening
Community leaders say they have repeatedly raised concerns with government officials and representatives of the UNDP, but have not received satisfying answers.
“I spoke with UNDP and Ministry of the Environment officials, but so far I haven’t received any clear answers about how the site is being operated,” said Macaronne Gabriel, the Administrative Council of Communal Section (CASEC) representative for Duma.
Gabriel, like many other residents, is particularly concerned about the presence of medical waste among the garbage and the risk of contamination to water sources used by nearby communities.
Livestock producers also fear long-term economic consequences.
“The authorities are doing nothing to stop the animals from eating the garbage,” said farmer Wilner Justin. “Soon, we won’t be able to raise livestock here anymore because of the amount of waste invading the pastures.”
Agronomist Longuisse Simon said plastic and other non-biodegradable materials can seriously affect animal health.
“Non-biodegradable waste pollutes the air, constipates cattle and can cause disease in livestock,” Simon said.
He also warned that animals consuming plastics or toxic substances could pose health risks to people who consume contaminated meat or dairy products.
Missed economic opportunities
Beyond its environmental goals, the Morne Casse project was expected to create jobs through waste sorting and recycling programs.
According to UNDP data, Haiti generates an average of 0.7 kilograms of waste per person each day, yet less than 40% of that waste is collected. Limited infrastructure, rapid urbanization and population growth continue to strain waste management systems nationwide.
The Ministry of Environment and UNDP fund the construction of a solid waste recovery and transformation site, benefiting directly three municipalities, including Fort-Liberté, Ounaminthe and Ferrier
Local residents say the delayed opening has prevented the region from benefiting from both improved sanitation and potential employment opportunities tied to the project.
Frustration is now mounting.
“We are giving the Ministry of the Environment one month to open the site,” Gabriel said. “Otherwise, we will remove the padlocks and dump the waste ourselves.”
