The Haiti debacle

By Lloyd B Smith:


WONDER what is going through the minds of Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the two exiled top honchos of Haiti? No doubt, both men would love to return at this time to their country which has been devastated by what has been described as that poverty-stricken country's worst earthquake in 200 years.

In the case of Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), will his conscience sufficiently prick him to the extent where he will repatriate some of the many millions that he plundered from the public purse? Surely, he cannot return in the flesh lest he be numbered among the thousands of corpses in short order. Aristide, on the other hand, has a tremendous following but his return may well present a serious political dilemma for an already very confused state.

I don't know about my readers, but when I ponder the fact that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere that has now been hit by perhaps the worst natural disaster in living memory in the same region, one has to wonder if bad luck is worse than obeah (or is it voodoo?) Incidentally, it has been rumoured in Haiti that a high-ranking voodoo priest is responsible for this latest debacle because of an ungrateful people who made Aristide go. And here in Jamaica, there are the many cynics who maintain that the Haitians "wuk too much obeah (voodoo)", so that's why they received such a catastrophic visitation.

Be that as it may, the Haiti quake may well turn out in the long run to be a blessing in disguise for that most unfortunate country. Indeed, one cannot help but ask why, after all these decades during which Haiti has been ignored and despised, it is now being showered with so much aid, money and debt forgiveness? Isn't there some amount of hypocrisy involved here?

I must confess that I have become a bit sceptical about this massive outpouring of generosity and can only hope that most if not all that is being donated will in fact reach those thousands of suffering victims now bereft of just about everything except their miserable lives. In this vein, I must warn would-be donors to be wary of scammers and shysters who will use even this most tragic spectacle for self-aggrandisement. And please, don't just send "ole clothes" or personal effects that you have got tired of and were waiting to throw out, not to mention those expired foodstuff, including canned goods. The Haitians are poor and beleaguered, but they still have their dignity and self-respect.

In the meantime, what I find most interesting, if not intriguing, is the juxtaposition of the Jamaican "tax quake" which jolted us recently thanks to "Papa Bruce" and his team and that seismic wonder not too far from our shores. God-fearing Jamaicans are praising the Almighty for having spared us, because if it was us and not Haiti which had been so affected by that quake, then not even dog would want to eat our supper!

Despite the fact that Jamaica and Haiti are in the same fault line, we experienced only some minor shocks. But you know, I have to wonder if God is partial? After all, why should he bypass us and take on Haiti? Are we the preferred "children of Israel"? Whichever way one looks at this scenario, it is obvious that we are a very lucky country and Haiti, on the other hand, is a very unlucky place to live. Four hurricanes in one year battered that country, then this quake.

But while Jamaica has been spared the debilitating effects of natural disasters (acts of God), we have been subject to many acts of man such as our record number of murders. So let us not become too smug as if to say everything is coming up roses. Indeed, if all the promises and plans now being offered by the international community to Haiti should materialise, then Jamaica may well begin to compete for its current position - that of being the poorest country in the West!

It is good to see Jamaicans rising to the occasion in a bid to help our Haitian brothers and sisters in their distress. Our Prime Minister Bruce Golding has taken on the task of leading the charge on behalf of Caricom and this is most commendable, although he must be reminded that he still has his "quake back a yard" to deal with. In this context, we can only hope that Mr Golding does not become too comfy and distracted from his major task at hand - that of salvaging the Jamaican economy.

I am a bit worried about what I am hearing on the streets being spouted by gleeful Jamaica Labour Party supporters who feel that the Golding Cabinet pulled a fast one on the Jamaican public with respect to the tax package and the debt-management initiative. Against this background, Mr Golding needs to clarify whether the first tax package announced at the end of 2009 was a deliberate ploy to prepare the country for the debt-management initiative. There is talk that this was the only way to get the International Monetary Fund to soften its position while at the same time bullying the well-off who were benefiting so profusely from government paper to decide to share some of the burden. Is this a classic case of the politics of deception or expediency?

Meanwhile, there are many lessons to be learnt from the Haitian debacle, chief of which is what corruption can do to a country, including the needless loss of many human lives. More anon.

lloydbsmith@hotmail.com

January 19, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Disaster has a silver lining - an Obama Plan

By Franklin Johnston:



If you are poor you get sympathy; if you are "piss poor" you get help. Give thanks for Haiti! Jamaica's economic future is in the Greater Antilles, a market of 36m people (Haiti, Cuba, DR and us) and 5m in its diaspora - Air Jamaica can be viable with a 4m market. We live in 35 minutes of this large market yet are blind to our manifest destiny. Heaven is our backyard and we must build solid economic relations with our neighbours. Haiti's tragedy can be the spark to ignite our development and theirs.

We are powerless when faced with forces of nature. Despite the conspiracy theorists, Haitians are as good as people at the Vesuvius, Krakatoa or San Francisco disasters, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Haiti is more sinned against than sinning, CNN cites the close bond with the US, but "the full has not been told". Still, 30-odd coups since independence killed more Haitians, only quietly. Their own leaders have bloody hands. Disasters have killed more in China than any nation, yet they flourish. Nature isn't angry, it's not God's retribution. The earth does what the earth does. If you live on an earth fault, expect a holocaust any time. You must move! Many died in the San Francisco quake and recent tsunami, did they move? No! We are flooded out, but rebuild on the same gully banks and bawl, pray, cuss the state and thank God for the cash after every flood. I am empty, but if you have tears, shed them! Soon, media fatigue will set in, the waters will close and Haiti will be as it was, but we can change tragedy to triumph. Think with me now:

*Dry your eyes and let's find the silver lining in this disaster. Can we mould a global flow of random donations into a structured plan for Haiti and the Caribbean? We won't spoil the spirit by reminding the US and France they owe Haiti. We can leverage this to get Haiti an economic makeover - an Obama Plan - as the US gave to Europe in the post-war Marshall Plan. To quote Shakespeare's As You Like It:

"Sweet are the uses of adversity

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous

Wears yet a precious jewel in its head."

Europe got long-term US help and their economies soared. Bruce should lobby for an "Obama Plan" for Haiti.

*Would the UK, Italy, France, Germany do for Haiti and the Caribbean what the US did for them 65 years ago? Haiti is the poorest Western nation and the US president's troika and the West will deliver "big time"! But, what of the new money - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Dubai, Abu Dhabi - known for glitzy projects and obscene consumption? Let's see the generosity of Islamic states, Africa and Asia.

If Bruce and Portia get their minds around it, Haiti can be the sheet anchor of a Caribbean renaissance. Transport economics make the Greater Antilles our market. In our "salad days" we went to Miami for lunch on Fridays and got home for the nightly news. Cuba with 12m people, D R 11m, Haiti 10m, are our backyard! The geography imperative is incontrovertible and we ignore it to our peril. T&T draws close to its OECS neighbours as should we to ours. Fishermen trade with Haiti, as did the Tainos, and if they can cope in French and Spanish, so can we. Caricom neocons elevate English law and language and scorn economic reality. Thank God their tour to Haiti's ground zero, to clog the airspace, was thwarted. Caricom's bruised ego is not a topic Bruce should raise with Mrs Clinton. There are 92-plus agencies in Haiti on Phase 1 - first response aid and none toured before giving. Spoilt brats! Bruce and Portia should proffer a vision for Phase 5 - sustainable projects, to Hillary Clinton (the Marshall Plan was named after a secretary of state) and René Préval to be based on Caribbean enterprise and skills. Here is my list for our PM:

*An "Obama Plan" for Haiti and the Caribbean, funded by the Middle East, US, Europe, Asia, Africa to modernise transport, farming, manufacture, inter-island trade, exports and human capital; to use Caribbean skills and embed the know-how in the islands.

For Jamaica proper, Bruce and Portia must negotiate deals and facilities in Haiti for our Phase 4 "smart start" projects to benefit Haiti's market and ours. These include:

*Land for a Jamaica logistics park and entrepot for trade, manufacture and large-scale farming. A "recce" team to include Tony Hylton (ports, logistics); Peter McConnell, Jamaica Broilers (food farms); Grace (processing, distribution); Gassan Azan (trade goods); SRC and UWI/CARDI (yam, cassava, potato, tissue culture). The initial 13m-market enables high volume, low-cost production and import - big volume, small margins. Inter-island shuttle shipping will thrive and maritime and other jobs will open up on both shores.

*English has made us lazy. Let's learn French, Spanish, tackle the big markets in our backyard, build cross-border industry and let Caricom deliver what it can.

*Regional airlines and shipping in a market of 36m is feasible. Our commuter and private aircraft fleets will grow as some staff travel to work in Haiti, DR, etc.

*The UWI, UTech, NCU should give academic credits for field work and place 300

second-year students in a Caribbean Service Corps on a work-study track in social work, nursing, farming, construction, food tech, conservation, etc, projects as building and operating community bakeries. They should partner with Haiti's institutions.

* Our banks, money transfer, professional services firms, HEART/NTA must seek joint ventures. Haiti is close and can be treated as part of our internal market. Let's reach beyond our comfort levels and be brave for Haiti and for our own good.

*Our universities should team up with local consultants to bid on foreign-funded projects in Haiti and develop a portfolio of social and economic work.

We are rich compared to Haiti, so 5000 families should adopt a Haitian child for one year until they sort themselves out. One more mouth to feed is doable! We gain friends, have fun, free French lessons for the family and blessings galore! Stay conscious!

Dr Franklin Johnston is an international project manager with Teape-Johnston Consultants, currently on assignment in the UK.

franklinjohnston@hotmail.com

January 22, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Turning Guantanamo Bay into a point of light

By Jean H Charles:


The American base at Guantanamo in Cuba, refitted to receive the enemy combatant prisoners and the terrorists of Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, is on the verge of being closed again due to negative publicity surrounding the alleged mistreatment of those prisoners. Guantanamo Bay, with proper leadership and foresight, can reborn brightly as the most suitable place from critical care to recovery and rehabilitation for the Haitians victims of the devastating earthquake in a longer term. It is at only half an hour from the town of Mole St Nicholas, Haiti where Christopher Columbus landed in the country five hundred years ago.

Those Haitians will return home later to a Haiti rebuilt and ready to receive them. Guantanamo, with the leadership of the United States and financial support from the rest of the world, is a potential first response disaster relief and management center for the Western Hemisphere. Fidel and Raul Castro, I am certain, would applaud such a move, causing a melting of the ice between the two governments, Cuba and the United States. Such synergy is already in place in Leogane, Haiti, where Cuban and American doctors are working hand in hand in perfect harmony.

The vista of a young man with broken feet being discharged from the hospital with no one to receive him and no home to go to is disheartening at best. Haiti after 1/12/10 needs a rehabilitation center for the thousand of discharged patients and halfway home for the thousand of orphaned children before adoption. The situation in Haiti is similar to the fate of Europe after the defeat of the Nazis. It took the leadership of a General John Marshall to transform the towns and the cities of France, Germany and England into vibrant entities. It took also the leadership of General MacArthur in Asia to transform Japan into the power house of today.

Haiti, a pearl of the islands before its independence, was destined to become a ever-shining pearl after its gallant victory over slavery. It has not been such. This massive destruction will set Haiti years behind if no proper leadership is exhibited. I share the concern of millions in the world, who wish Haiti well and would like to see its people enter into the kingdom of peace, harmony and welfare.

The state of the state of Haiti today is now one of confusion. The United States has asked Canada and Brazil to join its administration in taking the lead for the reconstruction of Haiti, yet France and the European Community want to be major players in a country where French language and French mores are still queen. Israel, Cuba, Venezuela and Turkey have been so far the most ready helpers. The Dominican Republic is now setting itself to become the trustee of Haiti.

The Haitian government is nowhere to be found. There was no better governance in the best of times. President Barack Obama has promised not to let the Haitians suffer alone in this difficult situation. He will have to appoint a strong leader to lead the recovery, bring the sick, and the ones with broken limbs to Guantanamo, work with Europe and the other countries that want to devise a Marshall plan for Haiti and help instill in the country a sense of urgency, safety and solidarity of one towards the other.

One week after the earthquake, the excuses in the delay in breaking the bottleneck for essential delivery of health care to the people affected by the disaster are not reasonable. The Haitian people once more have demonstrated their resilience, they know not to expect solace from their own government, they expect, though, a better coordination of leadership and logistics from the international community.

The Haitian government has paid the transportation for the refugees to return home to their ancestral towns. It is planning tent cities on the outskirt of Port au Prince, against the grain of Haitian ethos that refuse to be refugees in their own country. They need a hospitality center in each one of the small towns of Haiti to alleviate and organize the arrivals of the new residents. A purse of a minimum of one million dollars in each one of the 150 towns of Haiti will go a long way in setting the stage for the reconstruction of Haiti and easing the pressure on the capital.

The power vacuum in Haiti on the national and international level is potentially as explosive as the recent earthquake:

– the political ballet dance of the United States not wanting to offend the Haitian government in taking charge of essential services,
– the United Nations wounded by the loss of its people and discredited for dismal performance for the last five years in Haiti,
– the rest of the international community already into a mode of a charity fatigue due to unnecessary bottleneck by those three players,
– the posturing of the major nonprofit organizations more interested in putting the spotlight on themselves instead of working together to bring essential services to the ordinary earthquake afflicted person.
– the Haitian government culture of treating its own citizens as pariah entities.

These are all the ingredients that will impede the speedy recovery of Haiti. As the doctors and the nurses in the field who need essential tools and medication to save the sick and the wounded, as the community leaders in the slum documented by BBC, who provide better services for burying the dead, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry than the slow pace of the world armada camped at the airport still discussing logistics and protocol while Haitians are dying from post and non treatment.

I am crying for help, please! The ghost of Katrina is still haunting Haiti.

January 23, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Jamaica shares same earthquake faultline as Haiti

"The fault that created the quake in Haiti runs right across the western end of the Dominican Republic, through Haiti, cuts across the Caribbean Sea into Jamaica and continues more or less into different fault lines across Jamaica: one continuous fault line runs across from Haiti to Jamaica."

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- Jamaica shares the same faultline (a crack or break in the earth's surface) with Haiti, which suffered a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 11.

This was disclosed by the Head of the Earthquake Unit of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Lyndon Brown, at a JIS Think Tank in Kingston on Wednesday.

"The fault that created the quake in Haiti runs right across the western end of the Dominican Republic, through Haiti, cuts across the Caribbean Sea into Jamaica and continues more or less into different fault lines across Jamaica: one continuous fault line runs across from Haiti to Jamaica," Dr Brown stated.

He added that the activities in the region, following the Haiti earthquake, are not unusual, at this time.

"A number of aftershocks have taken place, and this is quite natural. The aftershocks will be more continuous after the large earthquake, but then this will die down and become less frequent," he said.

Aftershocks, such as the magnitude 6.1 tremor that occurred in Haiti again on the Wednesday morning (January 20), can be large but will become less frequent over time.

He said, however, that the other earthquakes that have taken place in Guatemala, Venezuela, and El Salvador are happening on the Pacific Plate fault line, which is not the same one on which Haiti and Jamaica is located.

"Right now we do not see the association between the events," he added.

He said that while studies are being done by an American researcher, to see the relationships between the fault lines, none has so far been established, and what is happening is that stresses are being naturally released along respective fault lines.

"Earthquakes are very, very, common. If you look at a map of Jamaica you will see that last year we had about eight felt events (earthquakes) and about 200 that were weak but could just be picked up as earthquakes," he said.

He stated that, on average, there have been about16 earthquakes on an annual basis that are greater that magnitude 7.0 , about 120 around magnitude 6.0 and an innumerable amount at magnitude 5.0 and below.

"What is happening in the region is very interesting. Earthquakes are natural events that happen when stresses that have built up along fault lines are released, creating elastic waves that generate convolutions on the face of the earth," Dr Brown said.

He added that the destruction wrought by an earthquake is dependent on the location and strength of a building, as well as the strength of the earthquake.

January 22, 2010

caribbeannetnews

CARICOM strengthens response to Haiti

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CDEMA) -- CARICOM efforts to provide relief to Haiti after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 are being strengthened following an assessment of the situation on the ground. Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Jeremy Collymore updated on the CARICOM response to Haiti at a press conference Thursday at the CDEMA Coordinating Unit in Barbados.

The Executive Director stressed the role that the region has played to date singling out the role of Jamaica, the CDEMA Sub Regional Focal Point (SRFP) with responsibility for Haiti.

Immediately on receiving notification of the earthquake, the Director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) communicated with the Executive Director of CDEMA and confirmed that Jamaica as the SRFP with responsibility for Haiti, would take the lead on immediate actions in response to the event.

Collymore said, “It is important to recognize the efforts of Jamaica within the larger context of the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM). The mission by the Jamaican Prime Minister was the genesis for informing the community’s prioritizing focus of its efforts in Haiti.”

“Jamaica (the SRFP) responded to the catastrophe within the first 24 hours deploying a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) vessel with military personnel and emergency supplies and is now the staging point for CARICOM relief activities to Haiti.”

CDEMA’s SRFP has provided search and rescue support, rescuing three persons and recovering two bodies in collaboration with international agencies. Additionally, the team has provided health support services, treating approximately 400 persons and performing minor surgeries. The team is also conducting ongoing public health awareness activities.

The SRFP is also providing security assistance to the World Food Programme’s (WFP) efforts and the more than 350 personnel from eleven CARICOM countries currently involved in the operations area.

The CDEMA head declared that responding to the Haiti earthquake has been “the major challenge to the humanitarian response practice globally in recent times.”

He noted that a major challenge to the response effort is “congestion on the ground of ‘unprioritised’ response driven more by emotional considerations rather than a structured mechanism have contributed to delays in the delivery of aid.” He said the delivery of emergency aid is further compromised by the damage to the sea ports.

As CARICOM intensifies its response, efforts will be centered on both short and long term initiatives in the targeted community.

He noted that the Community’s intervention going forward will be based on three principles. It is holistic, targeted and developmental.

The primary focus will be on the health sector. This will encompass assessment of facilities, emergency repair, provision of medical and support personnel, critical medical supplies, emergency supplies and security.

Regional governments have already pledged four million US dollars along with a cadre of emergency support, supplies and materials to the Haiti relief effort. This does not include the substantial fund raising activities by civil society.

CARICOM has also enhanced its presence in Haiti with a Special Coordinator appointed by CDEMA who is working with Haiti Civil Defence Protection, and the CARICOM security forces, international donors and humanitarian community on the ground to ensure a sustained and effective coordination of the CARICOM relief efforts.

In addition, the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) will continue to deploy regional emergency and medical personnel to strengthen and support the work of 350 CARICOM personnel already on the ground.

CARICOM recognizes the need for the continued support of Haiti beyond the response period and will continue to work towards meeting those needs beyond this initial response phase.

January 22, 2010

caribbeannetnews

CARICOM heightens its response to Haitian crisis

GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) moved its assistance to its earthquake devastated Member State, Haiti to another level with the deployment of a Tactical Mission to that country on Sunday.

On Wednesday, 13 January, less than 24 hours after the earthquake struck on 12 January, Jamaica had deployed medical personnel and security forces to Haiti as a first response. Jamaica is the sub-regional focal point in the area that includes Haiti, The Bahamas and the nearby Associate Members under the system established by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) the regional response mechanism to natural disasters.

A medical facility was quickly established by the Jamaican team, while arrangements have also been made to transport some of the injured to Jamaica for hospitalisation.

The Tactical Mission is seeking to determine the way forward in the provision of more health related services to Haiti and will provide up to date information as to the situation on the ground in Haiti and identify logistical arrangements which would facilitate the entry and accommodation of more personnel and supplies.

This crucial area of health was identified as the sector that would receive a targeted response by the Community following a meeting on Thursday evening involving CARICOM Chairman, Roosevelt Skerritt, Prime Minister of Dominica, David Thompson, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Bruce Golding, the Prime Minister of Jamaica and Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM. Prime Minister Golding had reported to his colleagues on meetings he had held in Haiti earlier that day with Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

CARICOM assistance in the area of health includes the provision of additional medical and support personnel as well as medical and emergency supplies and security for those engaged in the provision of the services. CDEMA, in this effort, continues to work closely with the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), the Regional Security System (RSS) and the CARICOM Secretariat.

On Monday President Preval and members of his cabinet, together with Prime Ministers, Skerritt, Thompson and Golding, Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister of The Bahamas and Patrick Manning Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and the CARICOM Secretary-General, participated in a meeting in the Dominican Republic on the crisis arising out of the earthquake. The meeting, convened by Spain in its capacity as current President of the European Union and attended by other countries and international agencies, sought to identify and resolve problems of co-ordination of the aid and relief effort in Haiti.

CARICOM leaders expressed concern over the future of tens of thousands of children who had been made orphans by the tragedy and agreed that this problem needed to be addressed urgently.

All participants acknowledged the major logistical difficulties in the situation including the almost insurmountable challenge of reaching communities outside Port-au-Prince which had also been devastated by the earthquake, and recommended ways to tackle this issue. CARICOM’s role and rapid response to the crisis came in for praise at the meeting.

January 21, 2010


caribbeannetnews

Haiti rejects Dominican Republic troops

By Louis Charbonneau:


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- Earthquake-ravaged Haiti turned down an offer of troops from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, forcing the United Nations to look elsewhere for additional peacekeepers, UN diplomats said on Wednesday.

The Dominican Republic had offered an 800-strong battalion to form part of the reinforcement of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

"We understand the Haitian government has said no to them," one Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity. He said he assumed the decision came from Haitian President Rene Preval.

The two states share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola but have a history of tense relations.

A UN official confirmed that Haiti turned down the offer but said the decision might not be definitive and talks were under way to see if Haiti would allow a rescue team or police from the Dominican Republic to help with the relief efforts.

"We're hoping other countries can provide troops," the official said.

The full potential strength of the UN peacekeeping force is now 12,651, up from the current level of around 9,000, after a UN Security Council resolution adopted on Tuesday.

The United Nations is now rushing to find the extra 3,651 troops and police to help maintain security and deliver aid.

Edmond Mulet, sent to Haiti to take over the UN force after its chief, Hedi Annabi, and dozens of other UN staff died in the earthquake, has said that Brazil was offering more troops and France and Chile were offering police.

UN officials have said the Philippines might also top up its existing contingent.

Haitian officials say the death toll from the Jan. 12 quake was likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000, and that 75,000 bodies had already been buried in mass graves.

The United States has around 12,000 military personnel in Haiti, on ships offshore or en route. They are not under UN command, though they are cooperating with the United Nations, which is overseeing the relief effort.

January 21, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International