Above: Martelly at the convention Friday (Photo: OP)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s President, Michel Martelly, concluded a two-day national symposium on solid waste management at the Karibe Hotel in Petionville.

The conference, which was attended by parliamentarians, government officials and members of civil society, among others, examined the problem of landfills and waste management in Haiti.

It was the brainchild of the Metropolitan Department of Solid Waste Collection.

Martelly has expressed his support for the initiative, which will outline possible solutions to transform what is currently a nuisance into an opportunity, in the words of the President.

He congratulated Donald Paraison, the director of the collection department, for the initiative, and for the different ideas proposed on how to utilize waste to deploy a wider range of the country’s resources.

Those resources include everything from agricultural projects to converting waste into energy.

“I count on you to ensure that the monitoring work of this conference produces the results you expect,” Martelly told him, urging Haitians to contribute in the fight against unsanitary conditions in the country.