“An altered and degraded environment,” such is the scathing assessment of Haitian reality
By Gedeon Delva · Port-au-Prince · · 2 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
This June 5th will be World Environment Day. “Ending global plastic pollution” is the theme chosen for this year’s celebration. While the entire planet mobilizes to stop this phenomenon, “altered, degraded, dangerous” are some terms used by scientists to describe the state of the environment in Haiti.
In an article published this Monday, June 2, 2025, Engineer Gédéon Pierre André, a doctor in environmental sciences, presents an environment piled high with plastic waste everywhere. “On street corners, in sewers, on coasts, on beaches, plastic waste everywhere, offering a hideous picture of urban macro-pollution,” according to researcher André’s article.
Plastic bags and plastic bottles, discarded along national roads at the edge of large cities, are generally inserted into a kind of modern hell. And this waste clogs traffic, tarnishing the image of cities. In rainy weather, runoff carries them into the sea. This proves that the population lacks environmental education.
The research professor shows that the state of the environment in Haiti is very dangerous for people's health and production. He notes, for example, the “proliferation of mosquitoes from piles of plastic waste in illegal dumps transmits malaria; numerous lung diseases and other cancers from inhaling air polluted by toxic fumes.” Dr. André believes that, given the impact of plastic pollutants on the environment and human health, severe measures and precautions must be taken.
It should be recalled that World Environment Day (WED) was launched by the United Nations in 1972, on the occasion of the opening of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. WED highlights a specific important issue, different each year concerning the environment. The objective is to work for the well-being of the Earth. Three days before June 5th, no announcement, no statement from the Ministry of Environment in Haiti regarding any activities to mark the date.
Gédéon Delva
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