Les Cayes

"Tout moun se moun."
Everybody is somebody.
-Jean Bertrand Aristide

Les Cayes (Kreyol: Okay) is a port city and chief commune of Les Cayes Arrondissement in the Southern department on the Carribean Shore of Haiti. In 1815 the South American liberator Simón Bolívar visited the port to accept Haitian arms and a contingent of troops to aid him in his fight against Spain.

Lc1 — Promotioal flyer; Les Cayes, SD, Haiti

About

At the time of the Spaniards, the town of Les Cayes was called Salvatierra de la Sabana, (English: "the land saved from the waters"). The current plan of this city is no different from that established in 1786 by the engineer Philipeau. The municipality has eight communal sections. The city is coastal and the communal sections are inland. The dominant terrain of the commune is the plain and its climate is warm. Its inhabitants call themselves Cayen. In 2013, the city was ranked number nine by MondoBlog magazine on its annual top-ten list of the "most beautiful communes" in Haiti.

History

Founded in 1786, Les Cayes was plagued by disease and pirates during colonial times. In 1815 the South American liberator Simón Bolívar visited the port to accept Haitian arms and a contingent of troops to aid him in his fight against Spain. The town was badly damaged by fire in 1908 and by hurricane in 1954. Les Cayes was the scene of a massacre in December 1929 when U.S. marines killed a dozen peasants protesting poor economic conditions under U.S. occupation. Les Cayes is Haiti’s leading southern port, exporting sugar, coffee, bananas, cotton, timber, dyewood, and hides. Historic landmarks include an arsenal and several forts dating from buccaneer times. Poor roads led to the town’s isolation for much of the 20th (1900s) century, but a paved highway now links it to the national capital, Port-au-Prince.

Geography

Demographics

Year	Population	+/-
1982	35,000
1998	146,422	+318%
2003	125,799	-14%
2009	137,592	+9%
2015	151,696	+10%

LC314a — Carrefour de Quatre Chemins; **Les Cayes**, SD, Haiti

Economy

At the level of the economic and financial infrastructure, the municipality has ten hotels, four pensions, 11 restaurants, two banks, a Caisse populaire and twelve marketing cooperatives.

Trade, crafts and industry are the predominant activities of the commune. The commune of Les Cayes is better equipped with economic establishments than the other communes of the department. There are five gas stations, two private morgues, 12 pharmacies, 6 Photocopy services, ten Beauty Studios, and three dry cleaning, amongst others.

Port of Les Cayes 12119 — Port of Les Cayes

Infrastructure

Transportation

Education

The Ministry of the National Education for Youth and Sports is represented in the commune of Les Cayes by a departmental office. Twenty six kindergarten, several primary schools and several secondary schools were inventoried in the municipality. In addition, there are four technical and vocational schools, seven Literacy centers, universities and higher accounting, secretarial and informatics schools.

Lc105 — Bethanie k-12 school; Les Cayes, Haiti

Lc111 — Hospital Immaculee Conception, Les Cayes

Health

The Ministry of Public Health and Population has been represented in the commune by a departmental office for twenty-seven years. The municipality of Les Cayes is well equipped with sanitary facilities, there are three hospitals, a health center without a bed, a sanatorium and five clinics with a very varied staff.

Utilities

With regard to water resources, the municipality has four rivers, 60 springs and a lake. From the capture of some sources, the CARE and the Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti has endowed the commune with artesian wells and public fountains (equipped with taps or pumps). The city and most of its communal sections are electrified.

Security

Lc114 — Haiti National Police - Les Cayes

With regard to administrative and judicial infrastructures, the commune of Les Cayes has a court of appeals, a peace court, a public prosecutor's office and a civil court. There is a National Police office d' Haiti (PNH), two civil status offices and one prison.

Culture

Religion

More than 100 churches (temples and chapels included) were counted in the Commune of Les Cayes. The prevalent faiths are Catholic, Bishops, Baptist, Adventist, Pentecostal, Church of God, Jehovah's Witness, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Organizations

Six political parties are represented in the municipality in addition to the 31 Popular organizations, four peasant groups, four Women's groups, seven non and two international organizations that have been listed in the municipality.

Comunication

The city is equipped with telephone service. There are ten radio stations and three television stations in Les Cayes, there is no newspaper/magazine.

Leisure

Botanical Garden LC — Botanical Garden; Les Cayes, Haiti

The municipality has three libraries, three theatres, three movie theatres, and no museum. Sports practiced are football (soccer), basketball, athletics, volleyball, cycling and tennis. Three night clubs and Seven Gaguères have been inventoried in the municipality. There are also five public place and one historic place.

The monuments and sites of the commune are of colonial, historical and natural types. The City of Les Cayes remains important in the history of the Republic of Haiti. It should be noted that Les Cayes is also the homeland of many Chiefs of State: Charles Hérard Ainé (Haque River), Lysius Félicité, Salomon Jeune, Michel Domingue, Boisrond Canal and Antoine Simon and, the composer of the song Haiti, darling, Othello Bayard.

Neighborhoods

CYS	Les Cayes		151,696
VCY	Ville des Cayes	Urban	86,780
	Quartier de Laborde	Urban	1,262
BDT	1ère Section Bourdet	Urban Rural Total	53,271 18,351 71,622	Agard, Bambou, Bois l'Etat, Bourdet, Branda, Carrefour Calumette, Carrefour des Quatre-Chemins, Carrefour Deux-Mapou, Castel-Pére, Cayajant, Charpentier, Coquette, Corbillère, Croix-Matyre, Danton, Dutruche, Fogas, Gelée, La Croix, La Gaudray, Leroux, Longue-Fosse, Marsay, Piloge, Reynaud, Vernet.
FNF	2ème Section Fonfrède	Rural	7,489	Cadet, Camp-Gérard, Carrefour Canse, Citadelle, Dabarelle, Démon, Fonfrède, Galais, Génères, Goufan, Laval, Major, Mercy, Nicolas, Paulin, Pesmerle, Picot, Savannette, Simon, Tuffet-Ainé.
LBD	3ème Section Laborde	Rural Section	10,567	Anadère, Barnate, Bois Laborde, Ca Durand, Carrefour Dollin, Costa, Diéte, Doual, Godet, La Borde, Le Pinay, Marchand, Remadin, Vilou.
LAU	4ème Section Laurent	Urban Rural Total	33,509 10,852 44,361	Bergeraud, Ca Bique, Ca Chérisme, Desplantes, Laurent, Madame Jean-Pierre, Nan More, Yersières.
MCY	5ème Section Mercy	Rural	7,544	Bourjolly, Condé, Demuzaine, Dollin, Duverseau, Fond-des-Frais, Fond-Justin, Fraise, Labarrière, Langlois, Madeque.
BMR	6ème Section Boulmier	Rural	8,851	Bellevue, Boulmier, Casure, Clivier, Coton, Despavines, Digo-Solon, Grand-Fond-Delmas, La Porte, Macome, Mopolice, Morency, Nan Café, Sourdins, Totolo, Zombi.

References

Les Cayes - [2]

Haiti O

Les Cayes Massacre https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/haiti-us-occupation-hundred-year-anniversary/amp

_{Michael Vedrine}