Public Investment: Sandra Paulemon Mobilizes Ministries Around the 2025-2026 Revised PIP

The Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, Sandra Paulemon, gathered the Study and Programming Units (UEP) of sectoral ministries this Friday, March 13, 2026, to initiate the development of the 2025-2026 revised Public Investment Program (PIP). A seemingly ordinary technical meeting, yet one that carries the ambitions of a government forced to reconcile urgency with long-term vision.

This workshop aimed to remind technicians that public investment can no longer be a mere administrative formality. In a national context marked by insecurity, economic paralysis, and electoral urgency, every gourde invested must now respond to a logic of tangible results.

Minister Paulemon also emphasized an essential triptych: security, economic recovery, and the organization of elections.

These three priorities, stemming from the National Pact signed on February 21, must now permeate all projects proposed by the ministries. A political framework that is certainly necessary, but which raises questions about the administration's actual capacity to transform these intentions into concrete actions on the ground.

For the challenge is not so much to plan as to execute. The Minister herself reminded the UEPs of the need to consider the “actual execution capacity of public institutions.” An implicit admission that too many projects, too many promises, too many budgets have remained dead letters due to lack of follow-up, skills, or simply political will.

The UEPs, the first links in this programming chain, bear immense responsibility. It is at their level that the relevance of projects, their alignment with the real needs of the population, and their technical and financial feasibility are determined. The Minister's demands for reliable information and clear objectives aim to put an end to the era of phantom projects or inflated figures designed to attract donors.

However, this technical work, however rigorous, will only be valuable through its concrete implementation. In a country where infrastructure deteriorates faster than it is built, where schools are lacking, roads are impassable, and potable water remains a luxury, the population no longer expects programs: it demands achievements.

The 2025-2026 revised PIP can be a relevant instrument. It can even embody a break with past practices. But for this to happen, the projects identified today must not end up, like so many others, in the dusty drawers of the administration. Minister Paulemon has set the tone. It remains to be seen if the administration will be able to keep pace.

Jean Wesley Pierre / Le Relief