Military Liaison Office Visits Grand Anse Projects

MLO with local counterparts in Grand Anse.

The Embassy’s Military Liaison Office (MLO) staff recently visited the Grand Anse region with Haitian Senator Michel Clerie.   MAJ Louis Fuchu, LTJG Paul Carlson and SFC Roland Laforest discussed SOUTHCOM’s Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) projects with local officials.  These projects meet the command’s objective of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) and the Embassy’s mission program plan for stability and security within the region.  SOUTHCOM’s theater objectives are to enhance hemispheric stability and security through strong regional partnerships with our partner nations in the area of responsibility.  The stability and security of the U.S. and partner nations such as Haiti hinge upon the ability to work together in a mutual effort to confront and defeat common security challenges.

The team was met by Mayor Pierre Ronald Etienne and Vice Delegate Marie Lunda Dossou Dimanche in Jeremie, where they had a brief one-hour meeting at the departmental administrative complex.   They then proceeded to the future Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and Disaster Relief Warehouse (DRW) site at Chateau.  The EOC will provide an operation center for the local government to coordinate disaster relief, and the DRW will provide space to store some necessary supplies to help the local population after a disaster.  Senator Clerie asked SFC Laforest about other projects for the Grand-Anse area; the Abricot Cluster project and the Jeremie fire station were both discussed.  The cluster consists of a community center, school building, medical clinic, latrine, and water well.  The fire station is being built to help improve the first responder capabilities in the local area.  The MLO enjoyed visiting the region and looks forward to successful cooperation with their Haitian counterparts on these projects.