The floods unleashed by the torrential rainfall on 21 September 2004 left some 3,000 people dead in Gonaïves - Haiti's fourth largest city. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to live on rooftops for days while the waters receded, without access to food or potable water.

In the weeks that followed, open sewage, stagnant water and the decaying bodies of animals and flood victims seriously contaminated local water supplies, causing a public health crisis. With most roads into Gonaïves impassable, aid workers struggled to supply clean water and control outbreaks of disease.

Today, buildings in the city are still coated with dust, and heaps of mud piled up at road intersections are a constant reminder of the tragedy.

As another annual rainy season brings torrential downpours, residents frequently take to the roofs in fear of another flood. The local economy has yet to show any sign of recovery, and, despite the presence of United Nations peace-keepers, violence and insecurity remain serious sources of concern.

International relief efforts in the months that followed the floods succeeded in preventing feared outbreaks of cholera and dysentery but, for a long time, weekly food handouts resulted in near-riots with armed gangsters blamed for stealing food supplies.

Gonaïves was the starting point for the armed insurrection that culminated in the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide at the end of February 2004, and the main armed group - formerly known as the Resistance Front but recently renamed the National Reconstruction Front (FRN) - continues to exercise de facto power in the city.

Earlier this year, a Roman Catholic nun whose convent had been robbed five times by members of an armed irregular force said, "'These guys in the Resistance Front, a lot of them are into drugs and killing, not all, but a lot of them....The money that (first) sponsored them is not coming in anymore, so now they're stealing.''

Former police chief, Guy Philippe, who lead the anti-Aristide rebellion, is now the leader of the Gonaïves-based FRN, and he has declared his intention to stand in general elections due to take place at the end of the year.

Philippe is keen to present himself as a 'clean' politician, but he struggles to shake off the association with the gunmen who still exert a significant influence in Gonaïves.

One of his commanders, Wilfort Ferdinand, is alleged to have killed a six-year old girl during a shoot-out with a rival for a girlfriend's affections. A warrant for his arrest has been issued, but police have not attempted to enforce it. Another, Winter Etienne, who was appointed director of the city's port by the current interim government, is accused of corruption and drug-trafficking.

Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue imfamously referred to the Resistance Front as "freedom fighters", and his goverment still appears to regard what is now known as the National Reconstruction Front as an important ally. One FRN leader, Butteur Metayer, whose brother's murder - allegedly by Aristide's agents - sparked the original revolt, now acts as bodyguard for the government's representative in the city. [Update: Butteur Metayer died of suspected kidney failure on 8 June]

This close relationship means that, rather than cracking down on illegal activities, local police work with the armed gangsters.

Just last month, the Haitian Journalists' Association reported that the Frantz Altidor, the director of a local radio station, Radio Provinciales, and two journalists from his station, were forced to go into hiding after police and gang members threatened to kill them. The station had been reporting on the joint activities of police officers and gangsters.

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A version of this article was first published by Hardbeatnews, 7 June 2005 : www.hardbeatnews.com

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