Haiti President Jovenel visit at Port Lafito - Haiti

On Friday May 26, 2017, President Jovenel Moïse, accompanied by Pierre Marie Du Meny, Minister of Trade and Industry and the President of the Senate, Youri Latortue, took part in the ceremony of laying of the foundation stone of the extension works of the Lafito Industrial Free Zone where Colacem is already operating and also building a new grinding facility. All the participants welcomed the willingness and determination of the Head of State to facilitate investment in Haiti and also took the opportunity to recall that the Lafito Platform is open to all, entrepreneurs and institutions that have the will to invest and contribute to the sustainable development of Haiti.

The president was pleased to visit Citadelle which is the first group in Haiti to start a new cement plant with the most modern production standard and will also be a model in terms of respect for ecological and environmental requirements.  Moreover, he was amazed to know that the plant will be fully operational in early 2018.   He was impressed with the first phase, which consists of a warehouse equipped with a modern packing system, 4 steel silos with a capacity of 8,000 MT for the storage of bulk cement, an extraction system for bulk cargo, a bagged product warehouse, infrastructure, offices and a balance for dispatching control. 

Additionally, he congratulated the group for this magnificent investment in Haiti and was blown away by the construction of the second phase already started for the installation of a cement grinding plant with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year, built to meet the demand of a large part of the country.   As he was informed, that the plant will generate direct and indirect jobs that will benefit the country in terms of industrial performance; and the plant will support the market with international quality products at a lower cost.

One important key points discussed with the president is the serious issue the cement industry is dealing with the contraband coming from the borders; which is destabilizing and detrimental to the market which has to be eliminated to protect investments like Citadelle.  He assured all the presents and Citadelle in particular that his government is working on this issue and he will give us his full collaboration to control this matter.