Watch this investment summit on Haiti

Concerns over two-day Miami event

Analysis by Rickey Singh


LAST week as the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France were on separate visits to earthquake-ruined Haiti, there were concerns about a United States of America private sector-initiated "investment summit" in Miami next month that would focus on economic reconstruction in that Caribbean Community member state.

Scheduled for March 9-10, the organisers and sponsors claim to be working on "reconstruction principles" identified at last month's Montreal Conference on Haiti hosted by Prime Minister Harper.

However, Caricom, which participated in the Montreal Conference and which has been mandated by Haiti to function as its special advocate at international fora in relation to the country's post-earthquake reconstruction, received no invitation or official information about this upcoming summit.

At the time of writing two days ago, the indication given was that it was "most unlikely" that Caricom would have an official present at the scheduled investment summit.

Instead, the Community is immersed in preparations, in collaboration with the Haitian administration of President René Préval, for the United Nations Donors Conference on Haiti currently being organised for late next month in New York.

While the Miami investment summit will be focused on garnering private contracts with an eye on security-related development, the UN's upcoming conference on Haiti will reflect current concerns over "the scale and nature of the challenges we face not only on the relief side, but also the course for the recovery and development later on", according to Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.

In contrast, promotion of the two-day investment summit being organised for next month has pointed to the benefits that could accrue to private corporations from private discussions.

Engaging in customary humanitarian rhetoric, the organisers of the summit - a number of whom are linked to some big names in private security operations, and not all with flattering credentials - state, for instance, on its promotion website (www.investmentsummits.com/haiti) the following:

"The summit benefits from a proven event model that includes plenary addresses on key areas with the opportunity for private discussions between attending companies and the various international delegations in attendance....

The Agenda


"The format is aimed at ensuring that attending companies have the opportunity to meet with leading stakeholders and demonstrate the important roles they have to play in the aid reconstruction and redevelopment of Haiti, essentially making for a mutually beneficial multilateral relation forum..."

For co-author of the book Capitalising on Catastrophe, Nandini Gunawardena (the other author is Mark Schuller), "the event seems to allow private corporations, in various disguises, to talk up international humanitarian agencies and convince them how they would be best placed to bring in various services and undertake reconstruction tasks, essentially to make no-bid contracts and deals (as in the past) which promise to wreak further disruption and disempowerment in the lives of Haitians..."

Linking last month's Montreal Conference on Haiti with the upcoming investment summit in Miami may be quite tactical on the part of the organisers. But are the objectives the same - to serve Haiti's best interest in its post-earthquake reconstruction?

Doubts, and even warnings, are already surfacing among those with reservations about sponsors like the security firm Sabre International, in conjunction with the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), described as a British "provider of business summits".

It is hoped that should Caricom governments and private sector representatives be among invited participants who turn up for this investment summit, they will be quite vigilant in honouring their own policies and mandates - in the best interest of Haiti and the wider Community.

In the meantime, as new human tragedies continue to plague Haitians - the latest being the collapse of a school from a mudslide that killed four children, amid warnings of further dislocation from expected heavy rains - varying estimates are emerging on the enormous scale of international aid required for reconstruction and redevelopment of Haiti.

France's "aid"


While the Montreal Conference on Haiti came up last month with a projected US$10-billion aid plan over five years, the Inter-American Development Bank, in its latest assessment, has declared that the level of economic assistance could require at least US$14 billion for what it has categorised as, proportionately, "the most destructive natural disaster of modern times".

During their respective visits to Haiti last week, Canadian Prime Minister Harper announced a US$555-million reconstruction aid package over five years, and France's President Sarkozy promised US$378 million in assistance.

That disclosure in Port-au-Prince prompted the Jamaica-born regional economist, Dr Norman Girvan, to juxtapose on his website that focuses on Caribbean political economy, Sarkozy's announced US$378-million aid with the estimated US$22 billion owed by France as compensation to Haiti for the demands made for recognition of Haiti's independence.

"The indemnity imposed by France," Girvan noted in a media statement to coincide with Sarkozy's visit to Haiti, "condemned the Haitian people to a cycle of indebtedness, environmental degradation and underdevelopment from which they have yet to recover.

"And if President Sarkozy were to make the restitution, in the name of all the decent people of the French republic, for this historic wrong, and support the efforts of the Haitian people to rebuild their shattered lives and economy, he would undoubtedly gain the respect of the entire world and be a prime candidate for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010..."

Sarkozy does not seem to be in such a courageous mood. Just think of the announced US$338-million aid from Haiti's former ruthless coloniser compared with the level of interest shown and financial help already committed by, for example, Canada.

February 21, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Dust from distant lands may affect climate, health in the Caribbean, say scientists

SAN DIEGO, USA -- Residents of the southern United States and the Caribbean have seen it many times during the summer months -- a whitish haze in the sky that seems to hang around for days. The resulting thin film of dust on their homes and cars actually is soil from the deserts of Africa, blown across the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, there is new evidence that similar dust storms in the arctic, possibly caused by receding glaciers, may be making similar deposits in northern Europe and North America, according to Joseph M Prospero from the University of Miami in a February 19 presentation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“Our recent work in Iceland has shown that most of the dust events there are associated with dust emitted from glacial outwash deposits, which may be carried into the northern latitudes and into Europe by synoptic weather events,” says Prospero, professor of marine and atmospheric chemistry at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, in his talk “Intercontinental Dust Transport: The Linkage to Climate and its Environmental Impact.”

Satellite data have shown large dust plumes in the arctic, but persistent cloud cover has made finding the origins difficult. The glaciers have been retreating in Iceland for decades, and the trend is expected to continue with the changing climate. Prospero predicts that dust activity from the newly exposed glacial deposits will most likely increase in the future in Iceland and possibly from other glacial terrains in the Arctic.

Prospero’s lifelong work has been to measure the effects of airborne dust. Since 1965, he and his colleagues have been measuring dust particles in Barbados, West Indies, thus creating the longest dust measurement data set in science. They found that dust transport increased greatly during the late 1960s and early 1970s at the same time as a severe drought in Northern Africa.

“The first 30 years of the dust record showed a strong relationship between dust transport across the ocean to rainfall amounts in the Sahel and Soudan regions of Africa,” says Prospero. “It’s important to note that the level of dust transport is not necessarily related directly to rainfall but possibly to other climate factors associated with the variability of rainfall.”

Some of the most intense periods dust transport are associated with strong El Niño events, which may affect such factors as wind speeds and variability as well as rainfall—the same factors that affect dust mobilization and transport. However, since the late 1990s, the pattern of drought and dust transport has been disrupted -- dust transport rates were actually greater than what Prospero’s earlier model would indicate.

“We still have work to do to understand the fundamental processes and relationship between climate, rainfall, and dust transport,” says Prospero. “Predicting the long-term effects of climate and dust transport is exacerbated by the fact that many of the climate prediction models for lower latitude Africa are not consistent.”

Also needing more study is whether the dust particles pose any health threat to the people below. More than half of the particles in the dust mass transported over the Atlantic to the Americas is smaller than 2.5 microns, defined as “respirable particles” by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Over the Caribbean region, the atmospheric concentration of fine dust particles frequently is within the range of and sometimes exceeds the US EPA’s standards for respirable particles.

“Although to date there is no strong evidence that African dust constitutes a health hazard, this possible impact would seem to warrant study especially since some climate change projections show increased dust transport in the future,” concludes Prospero.

Prospero is a panelist in a symposium called “Dust in the Earth System,” which will examine dust and its effects in the Earth system while considering societal impact at the local and global levels by exchanging information, ideas, and perspectives across diverse disciplines.

February 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

The Haiti Brand

By Jean H Charles:

In my mythical Haiti, I have often compared Haiti to Tahiti.  For myself, there are only two paradises on earth, Tahiti in the Pacific and Haiti in the Atlantic.  They are both French and original, magical and mysterious.

From time immemorial, Haiti has fascinated its visitors.   Christopher Columbus was the first fanatic enthusiast of the island. ‘This is fabulous’ was his cry of excitement when he set foot on the bay of St Nicholas.

The culture, the physical setting, the people all combined to make the country the best place for him and his crew to establish the first European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

For the next three hundred years, this mystical Haiti was this exciting woman that most European countries were fighting to seduce.   Spain yielded to the French buccaneers, who established their outpost on the island of Tortugas.   From there the French jumped to the mainland, and the rest is history.

The French invasion, mixed with the Africans brought as slaves from Dahomey and Angola, created an empire so powerful and so successful that the British for three centuries tried to lure the country into their arms.

Fortunes to make, exciting women to enjoy, neither black nor white, but with the malice and the charm of both, were the lot of men with bravura and daring who could settle onto that magical island!

Haiti was also the dreamland for young American men at the birth of their Republic.   Rich and bronzed like a Creole was the ultimate goal of the gentlemen from Baltimore, Maryland, to Newport, Rhode Island.

When Toussaint Louverture took command of the island in 1800, he maintained or re-created a mythical Haiti that was set to become the talk of the world in gentleness and hospitality for all, white or black.  John Adams was of the party, he was plotting to help Toussaint crown himself King of Haiti.   Napoleon Bonaparte put an end to that utopia.

The Haiti that emerged from the Revolution of 1804 did not succeed in building a nation hospitable to all.  There was first Dessalines, the Avenger of the Black Race, commandeering in Haiti the murder of all white people with the exception of the priests and the doctors, for inflicting three centuries of cruelty on African descendants.

There was later Alexander Petion, recreating a de facto apartheid Haiti, still in force today.   The kingdom of Henry Christophe that relied on the British to create an ethos of self-dependence in Haiti did not last long.

The earthquake of January 12, 2010, put Haiti back on the world stage.  No amount of money could buy such a range of advertising for a country.  Children and adults all over the world are counting pennies and dimes to send to Haiti, which suffered one of the worst catastrophes in modern times.

The brand Haiti has had exposure all over the world.  CNN has shown the squalor of Haiti, but there is also the splendor as soon as you set foot into the country.

The earthquake occurred in the midst of a splendid afternoon, as the sun set itself to go to sleep over the mountain surrounding the city of Port au Prince.  The energy and the creativity of the people that has known no other savior but their own to survive every day has been set in motion.

Haiti, through its paintings and its art destroyed in the Cathedral St Trinity or the art gallery, will revive on the art market in St Martin and in Curacao.  The paintings will bounce back into Haiti as its Diaspora is ready and willing to rebuild and continue the brand.  It is present in the food well-spiced with Indian, African and French ingredients.

As I was passing through the Dominican Republic, stopping at the well known Bani cafeteria and eating the bland goat meat, I told the owner, he should get himself a Haitian cook to suit the setting to the meal and bring diners from Santiago who will not mind the long travel to enjoy good food.

The brand Haiti is also present in the music, muted now to bury the dead, but ready to revive since the joie de vivre is also the essence of being Haitian.  It is this nostalgic spell that holds the visitors unto the land and attracts the Diaspora as a siren into this enchantress, magical and mysterious Haiti.

The brand Haiti, like a good coffee, will last in spite of itself.   It is unique, it is different, and it is tasty.   Years ago, meeting some French tourists on the Dominican side at the Club Med in La Romana, they told me they would prefer to be in Haiti with its gorgeous mountains, its culture, and its hospitality, if “only, you Haitian people could stay put for a while.”

Will Haiti stay put after the earthquake to enjoy its brand name?   The reconstruction of Haiti planned in New York, Santo Domingo, Cayenne or Montreal will need the Haitian ingredient.   My slogan for the Haitian electorate is: Pose, stay put!

Someone concerned enough to believe in the brand name will bring Haiti back into the Renaissance enjoyed under the short reign of Toussaint Louverture!

February 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Haiti 'restavek' tradition called child slavery

By Jim Loney

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) -- Living in a tent after an earthquake left a million Haitians in the streets, Melila Thelusma says she cannot support her two daughters and is ready to give them away to foreigners if she can find a good home for them.

Despite her desperation, Thelusma said she would never turn 11-year-old Gaelle and 6-year-old Christelle over to a Haitian family, as tens of thousands of other poor parents have done.

"Not a Haitian family. Haitians will make them suffer," Thelusma, 39, said. "They ... force the child to work like a animal. They don't really take care of them."

Deeply ingrained in the culture of the impoverished former slave colony, the practice of poor families giving away children to wealthier acquaintances or relatives is known in the native Creole as "restavek," from the French words rester avec, or "to stay with."

The children, they said, are taken in as servants, forced to work without pay, isolated from other children in the household and seldom sent to school.

"A restavek is a child placed in domestic slavery," said Jean-Robert Cadet, a former restavek who now runs a foundation to improve the lives of restavek children (www.restavekfreedom.org).

After the January 12 earthquake, the Haitian government warned that child traffickers could take advantage of the ensuing chaos to prey on vulnerable children. The well-publicized drama surrounding 10 US missionaries caught trying to spirit 33 children over the border seemed to reinforce the threat.

But critics say tens of thousands of Haitian children have been freely given by their own parents to a life of slavery within Haiti.

A 2002 study for UNICEF and other organizations by Norway's Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science said there were 173,000 restavek children, more than 8 percent of the population between 5 and 17. Cadet believes there are more than 300,000.

"When I was a child, the family basically owned me," said Cadet, whose mother died young. He was given away to a wealthy family when he was four.

"I grew up sleeping under the kitchen table. I got up early, swept the yard, washed the car, fetched water, emptied the chamber pot. I went to the market, bathed the children, walked the children to school and I couldn't come to school," he said. "I never ate with the family. I was abused physically. I was abused emotionally with bad words."

The restavek tradition may date to the time when Haiti was a French slave colony, when the children of slaves worked as domestics in the home of the master. Cadet said a relic of that era, a twisted cowhide whip known in Creole as a rigwaz, is still used to beat restaveks.

"It's the same whip that the French used during colonial times to beat slaves," he said. "You can buy them in the markets (in Port-au-Prince) today."

The restavek tradition lives on in part because it is accepted, or at least tolerated, in Haitian culture. Some families school and feed their restavek children, and some argue the children would die if they remained with their poor parents.

A family that has taken in a restavek child, Cadet said, will never admit to mistreating that child, and the government is reluctant to interfere in domestic affairs.

Marie Regine Joseph Pierre calls her 16-year-old charge, Rosaline, her cousin, and says she took in the girl when she was eight.

Rosaline lives "like brothers and sisters" with Pierre's own children, she says, and goes to school.

"My behavior with them, it's like a mother," she said.

Expatriates have carried restavek traditions to the United States, Two years ago, a mother and her adult daughter were convicted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of keeping a Haitian teenager as their slave for six years.

The girl, Simone Celestin, described in court how she was beaten, forced to sleep on the floor and bathe from a bucket.

Although Haiti is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Caroline Bakker, a child protection adviser for UNICEF, said it has no laws to protect restavek children.

Haiti needs new laws to protect children in domestic servitude from illegal labor practices, as well as social service programs to help parents who might otherwise give their children away.

"It should go hand in hand, protection and criminalization," she said. "Set up programs ... so that those families are able to keep those children with them, in their family, so that they can go to school (and) have a normal life with their families."

Jean-Robert Cadet said he sang along with his host family at the birthdays of their children, but never knew how old he was and believed that restaveks did not have birthdays.

"It's like a restavek child is not really a person. It's almost like you are disposable cloth," he said. "They use you and they throw you away."

February 19, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Belize can become a better place if we focus on crime and economic development together

By Wellington C Ramos:

Belize and the other English-speaking Caribbean countries are all experiencing a significant increase in their crime and unemployment rates. The time is now right for these countries to conduct a comprehensive study in order to examine the impact chronic unemployment has on crime.

I have looked at some studies that have been conducted over the years in most of the large urban centres in the United States of America and they have all revealed that there is a relationship between the two. Our country has too many idle, unemployed and displaced youths.

The last time I was in Belize I saw a gentleman dressed in police uniform on a motorcycle and had no police number or name on his uniform while all regular police officers must wear a number on their shirts. I was told by a person that he was a “tourist police,” a new thing that they started in Belize.

This police officer was chasing a suspect around the main bridge in Dangriga town and he pulled out a loaded 38 revolver to shoot at the suspect. Luckily, he did not fire the gun at the time because he probably would have shot an innocent civilian pedestrian passing by and we would have had no way of identifying this police officer. This might be the right time for all police officers to have their name attached to their uniforms in addition to their badge numbers.

Our ministers of government along with the businesses and industries can all sit around the table and convene an economic development plan for the next ten years. This will be to the benefit of the government and the private businesses. When citizens of a country become employed they will possess the means of purchasing their commodities from the businesses and industries and pay their taxes to the government to increase their revenues.

I am not living in Belize permanently and it is hard for me as a Belizean to comprehend how our ministers can go to bed at night only to wake up and hear that a member of their political constituency has lost a loved one. Also, for the business owners to hear that another business was robbed at gunpoint and the owner of the business was shot and killed. How long must we all wait until we ourselves become victims of this ongoing madness?

The Belize government should consider bringing back the traffic police into the department because it will help to generate more income for the economy and reduce the crime rates. Along with the department they should set up police toll stations on our highways to conduct searches for drugs, weapons, ammunition, wanted criminals, illegal aliens, stolen goods and other contraband items. The revenues from the tolls would pay for the maintenance of the highways and to pay the traffic police officers. When I attended the Police Academy years ago, the two areas of law I had most difficulty with were traffic and immigration.

I still cannot understand how the decision was made to take these two departments from the police force and hand it over to civilians. It is easier to control police officers than civilians because it is a disciplined branch. There is nothing wrong with admitting that we made a mistake and acknowledge that something is not working because that is a part of development. Many of our youths who are unemployed would become employed as traffic officers and businesses and industries will have their commodities and cargoes transported safely throughout the entire country.

Belize and these countries have many challenges to deal with but crime and unemployment are the two major thorns they must address quickly. Belizeans are becoming very impatient and intolerant. When our people have had enough of something they will do something about it. Pretty soon they will begin to ask themselves is this UDP Government doing their best to address these two important issues. If they come to the conclusion that the answer is no, they will not hesitate to put back the government in the hands of the People’s United Party or another political party.

Remember that these killings and crimes have Belizeans letting out their emotions and some people are not rational thinkers while they are expressing their emotions. Many nights before I go to bed, I sit in the United States and wonder if our leaders in Belize ever listen to the advice that we the people from the United State are giving them or they just do not give a darn about what we think. Remember also that we have close relatives in Belize and every Belizean has a family member living in the United States.

Let us now conduct this economic development summit to provide employment to our unemployed citizens and reduce these killings and robberies.

February 18, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Requiem to a Jamaican genius: Walk good, Rex Nettleford

YESTERDAY morning, a nation struggling to come to terms with simultaneous emotions of grief and gratitude, said farewell to Professor Ralston Milton 'Rex' Nettleford.

The dilemma is by no means unique to Jamaica. For there have been many occasions in the past when nations have had the uncomfortable experience of paying tribute to great men and women who have made such an indelible mark on humanity that we are unable to accept their early departure.

But departure is inevitable, for as the Scripture tells us, man's days are as grass, or yet again "It is appointed unto man once to die..." Life, therefore, is temporary. And it is what we do with that time on earth -- whether brief or extended -- that defines us.

No one can challenge the fact that Professor Nettleford packed many lifetimes into his short 76 years with us. His achievements are numerous and would fill these columns and many more were we to start listing them.

We believe, though, that Professor Nettleford would have been embarrassed by a listing of his accomplishments and the accolades bestowed upon him. His focus would be on our commitment to continuing the work to which he dedicated his life -- work on the acceptance of every facet of our vibrant culture by all Jamaicans; work on the strengthening of our democracy and the institutions that govern us; work on our role in creating a united Caribbean with a strong voice in the international community; work on our realisation that we can accomplish greatness regardless of our station in life.

For Professor Nettleford's life itself was a product of that work -- started by our ancestors -- and bore testament to the fact that, because he was not afraid to die, he lived.

He would have been pleased with yesterday's funeral service -- simple, yet elegant and conducted with the grace he and his beloved National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) so often displayed on stage here and abroad. He would also have been delighted with the fact that the atmosphere inside the University Chapel was one of celebration. For his life is indeed one to celebrate -- a life dedicated to professionalism, selflessness, education, social and political emancipation, and patriotism.

Thankfully, Professor Nettleford had the foresight to document his thoughts and experiences on a range of issues, leaving us with the benefit of his voice and expertise from which we can improve our lives.

Two weeks ago in this space, we humbly suggested that the Government assembles a broad committee representing the major interests served by Professor Nettleford to consider the most fitting tribute that can be paid to this extraordinary man who gave service beyond self to his country.

We trust that our suggestion was accepted.

And now, as we salute this great son of the soil, we appeal to Jamaicans to ensure that his legacy is preserved. For in the Hon Professor Ralston Milton 'Rex' Nettleford, OM rests the hope of every Jamaican of humble beginnings that they, too, can fulfil their ambitions.

Walk good, 'Prof'. May your soul rest in peace.

February 17, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

Haiti, one month after the event

By Jean H Charles:


The Haitian people that are usually so creative and so witty in their imagination, one month after the event have not found a name to designate the earthquake that occurred on 1/12/10. It is still l’evenement: the event. This lack of leadership in naming such a major occurence represents the state of the state of Haiti four weeks after the devastating earthquake that wrought the country with a force it has not seen in the last 250 years.

I was in New York when the earthquake struck Port au Prince and its environs of Leogane, Jacmel, Petit-Goave, Grand-Goave, Petionville, Kenscoff, Croix Des Bouquets, Miragoane Ganthier and Gressier. With the rest of the world, I was glued to CNN to watch with horror the extent of destruction and of deaths that 37 seconds of seism could produce in a country where a building code was not in force. I flew to Port au Prince two weeks later through Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Most of the major hotels in the Dominican Republic, filled with journalists, rescuers and officials of international organizations, served as a staging point for the trip towards Port au Prince, Haiti.

Early on the next day, my three American companions and I rented a car and drove to Haiti. The long ride to the border was uneventful. I enjoyed watching the young Dominican kids with the same uniform, kaki pants and blue shirt, all over the country, coming or going out to school. The activity started building up at the Haitian-Dominican border of Jimani. Long convoys of trucks with food, medicine and other building materials from all over the world were in line to enter into Haiti to help in the recovery.

I told my companions, be ready to watch how beautiful is the Haitian side with a major lake stretching for miles, the lake Azui, unspoiled, unused, ready to become a major tourist recreational center once the country has a government up to the task. The first two cities on the way to Port au Prince, Malpasse and Fond Parisien have very little destruction. Life seems follow at a normal pace.

The next two cities, Ganthier and Croix des Bouquets gave the indication of what to come when we arrived in Port au Prince, houses after houses were resting on each other as if they were little toys. Some were flattened with two or three stories one upon the other. I was told they still have people in decomposition underneath. The majestic and brand new American embassy was erected firm and untouched by the elements.

Late in the evening, we made a tour of the suburb of Petionville. The destruction was all around us, shacks and villas were flattened without discrimination of rank or status. Yet there was a feeling of normalcy. The restaurants spared by the earthquake were opened; the streets were filled with vendors as the parks were occupied by makeshift tent cities with orderly people trying to survive the unimaginable.

The next day, I saw the destruction in all its magnitude, the proud National Palace, gone; the Palace of Justice completely flattened, the offices of the ministries destroyed, the tall office of taxation completely eliminated. The entire commercial district is gone; the state university; school of medicine, school of law, school of nursing are destroyed. The same thing for most if not all the churches, the national cathedral flattened, with its Archbishop underneath. The famed Episcopal cathedral with its fresco of beautiful Haitian art was completely in ruins.

My home on the same River Street where some one thousand college students perished underneath their school, remained without damage. My father of 97 years old standing tall as a bamboo stick was presiding at the reconstruction of the fence wall, sleeping in his room, while a camp of refugees took shelter underneath the canopy in the yard.

The weekend of Valentine’s Day that corresponds this year with the usual Carnival time was dedicated to the commemoration of the event one month after. The vast Champ de Mars that corresponds to Savannah in Port of Spain or Time Square in New York was filled with people praying to God for saving their lives, singing to the Maker from the baton of an ecumenical group made of Protestants, Episcopalians, Catholics and even voodoo practitioners. Even the falling sun was in the party, several people saw a miracle in a brighter and shinier sundown.

At St Louis, King of France, my own parish church, the Sunday service took place in the yard. The beautiful and historic church was destroyed by the earthquake. An official of the government, Mr Daniel Henrys, in charge of the National Patrimony Institute, has chastised in a letter, on the net, the vicar for completing the destruction without his authorization.

The priest told me to let him know that he has visited his office several times in the past requesting help to maintain the church edifice. He has failed to come forward. His crocodile tears are now as hollow as the fall that causes the seism. The vicar with a leadership that is lacking in the Haitian government is ready to rebuild bigger and better. The congregation has never been so large and so ready to give and share.

I have visited the country from the northern border of Ouanaminthe to far away in the south from the epicenter of the earthquake in the city of Anse-a veau, I have seen the Haitian people ready to rebuild, the international community on site and ready to help but the Haitian government is not up to the task. An influential member of the government has told me he is trying, albeit without success, to move the executive into decentralization or funding the small cities to receive the refugees from Port au Prince, Preval is sticking to the tent cities as the policy of the government.

One month after the event, the fault on land has all the ingredients of a lack of vision and leadership, lack of compassion and lack of coordination. It is as wide as the fault underneath the capital that caused the seism. I have seen the lack of coordination in the devastated city of Leogane, where Canada and Venezuela have set up tents for the refugees. The Bolivarian tent city, well organized, is a transitional model that should be replicated; the Venezuelan soldiers living with the refugees are social workers, teachers, cooks and community organizers. The Canadians on the other side, too happy to enjoy the sun of Haiti away from the rigor and the thaw of winter of the Great North, did not display such discipline or coordination with the Venezuelan contingent.

There is a culture of lack of compassion for the refugees in the tent city. Food, water and public hygiene should be brought to the people. They need not go to a far away place for half a bag of rice distributed (orderly by the Americans, and disorderly by the United Nations).

There is also a lack of vision and leadership in the governance of the Republic. The American government has directed its two last presidents Clinton and Bush to coordinate the help for and towards Haiti. The Preval government does not exhibit the same high level crisis mode to bring the country to some normalcy. Its culture of each one for himself does not suit this emergency situation.

The Haitian constitution prescribes that the presidential election takes place on November 28, 2010, and a new president starts office on February 7, 2011. Can Haiti afford one more year of poor governance in this time of crisis? Will the Constitution be violated by not holding a timely election? If Haiti will have a provisional government on February 7, 2011, should not this provisional government takes place now, not only to manage effectively this tragic crisis, but also to conduct free and fair election?

Haiti is at a juncture where most nations are jockeying to take the lead in influence and in importance in the country. Nicholas Sarkozy will be visiting Haiti on February 17, the first ever by a French president to set foot on Haitian soil after 500 years, during or after colonial time. China promised to bring about the same change into Haiti that it has been able to realize for 800 million peasants, raising their level of life from squalor to middle class status in less than a generation. Italy has dispatched a full battalion to Haiti after the controversial declaration of its best expert in disaster management. The United States, still haunted by the Wilson doctrine of Americas to the American, sees Haiti under its sphere of influence. Latin America energized by ALBA wants to play a role in Haiti to repay a debt owed since Simon Bolivar.

Will the Haitian people profit from this disaster to enjoy at least and last the bliss of welfare and happiness? The stars are lining up for such an event. They need though a leader that provides vision, direction, leadership, compassion and coordination of international aid.

February 16, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International