EDITORIAL
Haiti, Going Forward

It has been an agonizing year since Haiti’s earthquake. Despite all of the pledges of help, and vows to do things differently, there are more than a million displaced people still living in camps and a cholera epidemic rages. An immense relief effort has saved tens of thousands of lives, but reconstruction is only just beginning.
This year must be better. Looking resolutely forward to the next 12 months, here are some of the things Haiti needs to achieve, with the world’s help. Some are difficult, but all are possible:

A CREDIBLE NEW GOVERNMENT President René Préval has failed to provide desperately needed leadership. Many basic policy questions, such as where to build new housing, have still not been made. That leadership crisis was made even worse by November’s chaotic presidential election and charges that an electoral council, handpicked by Mr. Préval, may have cooked the results.

Observers led by the Organization of American States have just re-examined vote tallies and reported that the second-place finisher, Mr. Préval’s protégé Jude Célestin, was, in fact, out of the running, as many Haitians and observers believed. Mr. Préval and Mr. Célestin should accept that result and urge the country forward to a swift, better organized, runoff between the top two candidates: Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly.
*My comments: Historically Haiti's rulers seem to stick to the presidential chair with crazy glue, and can only be removed by force. This tradition continues. Mr.Preval was a protegé of Titi Aristide and now has his own designated driver, namely Jude Célestin who should leave the playing field, so that only the other two contenders Manigat vs Martelly remain. There are corruption and graft rumors regarding one of the two, but again there are no saints remaining in Haiti".


ENERGIZE THE RECOVERY COMMISSION The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, set up to unite donors and Haiti’s leaders, was also very slow off the mark. It has now approved $3 billion in projects, $1.6 billion of them financed. It needs to develop and implement more comprehensive strategies for housing, health care, government reform and agriculture. Former President Bill Clinton and Haiti’s prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, have provided important direction but need to push harder.
*My comments: Too many hand outs wanting a piece of the pie, as I said before Haitians are used to authoritarian rulers, and too much democracy does not work in that land. A foreign administrator is the only practical and viable solution, to move out of the quagmire.

CONTAIN CHOLERA The epidemic is a horrifying reminder of why Haiti so urgently needs clean water and access to medical care — two of the yet-to-be-delivered-on promises. More than 3,000 people have been killed and thousands more are threatened.

Aid has been slow to arrive and the response — despite valiant relief efforts — has been hobbled by poor coordination and overconcentration in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The epidemic must be contained, and relief organizations need to learn from this flawed effort.

CLEAR MORE RUBBLE AND HOUSE THE DISPLACED These are inextricably linked. The country is drowning in its own rubble, and needs space to rebuild. Many main roads in the capital are now clear, and every day the government removes debris that residents gather from local streets. Even with the best coordination, this task may take another year or more.

Building homes for more than one million displaced people could take two or three years. The next president must quickly make important land-use decisions and employ all of his or her legal and persuasive powers against entrenched landowners and the bureaucratic status quo to get construction moving.
*My comments: Clearing the rubble will take at least two years in Haiti if done with proper equipment, but again many companies including US and Brazilian are salivating to start, but monies have not been allocated for this purpose. This alone could be a huge source of labor intensive jobs for the Haitian people.

PROMOTE JOBS AND INVESTMENT Here, too, there are glimmers of progress. The Haitian government, the United States and Inter-American Development Bank have signed a deal on an industrial park in northern Haiti. A South Korean textile company will be an anchor tenant and expects to hire 20,000 people. The project includes improvements in the port of Cap Haitien and in water supply, sewage treatment and electrification.

Haiti obviously needs more than one showcase project. But this is the kind of sensible planning and long-term commitment that will help build stability and bring more investment. It recognizes that new industrial development also needs houses, roads, schools and services, so that factories do not become surrounded by shantytowns. And that as the economy is rebuilt, it must also be relocated out of badly crowded Port-au-Prince.
*My comments: The Koreans have been known to be slave drivers in the DR, and we must assume their bottom line is greed. There is a saying: "Beggars can't be choosers" and urgent new sources of income are needed to provide food and shelter, but still the Koreans must be watched closely so they will not abuse the workers.

While Haiti remains traumatized by the worst urban disaster in history, it has a lot going for it: new structures to promote sustainable development and investment, large pledges of money and the enduring patience and energy of its people. This is no time to give up. Haiti’s political leaders, and the world, promised this time would be different. They must deliver.
*My comments: Again Haiti is going through the worse trials in human history, and like a dog trying to bite his tail and going around in circles. I quote Albert Einstein:

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."

Happy Nuevo Año! Generoso

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, I am still kicking and burning the candle at both ends.

There are many people pleading for Haiti to be taken over by the international community in order to make Haiti a UN protectorate for several decades, but it's nearly impossible to help those that don't help themselves. Haiti's number one revenue for their country is.../drum roll please......Aid from other Governments and charitable organizations.

The only people who can get Haiti out of its unfortunate state are its own people. So, until the people of Haiti are better educated in family planning, self-reliance, and accountability among those involved in Government, nothing will ever change in Haiti for the better.

Posted on Thu, Jan. 13, 2011
Haiti sees progress in electricity plant and Iron MarketBy JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com


CARL JUSTE / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held to mark the opening of the renovated Iron Market on Tuesday. The market was destroyed by last year's quake. Haiti inaugurated a new 30-megawatt $59.5 million electricity plant Thursday, increasing access to electricity for residents and industries.
E-Power is an investment by 54 Haitian and Haitian-Americans who six years ago proposed to a then-interim Haitian government the construction of a power plant to sell electricity to the state in order to increase access for the population.

The plant, built to withstand a 7.2-magnitude earthquake and category 4 hurricane, is located in Cite Soleil, a slum near the main airport. It will meet 15 percent of the capital's energy demands. The state's current capacity is 85 megawatts.

The facility -- whose investors also include South Korea's East-West Power company -- is state-of-the-art with a dedicated power-supply line into the capital's main industrial park, where factories currently rely on generators. Construction took 18 months.

The group has signed a 15-year agreement with state-owned Electricite d'Haiti to purchase power, saving the government between $24 million and $36 million a year, said Daniel-Gerard Rouzier, the visionary behind the project.

``Today is an extraordinary day for Haiti,'' he said. ``We need more investments and much less aid.''
The plant is the latest investment announced this week as Haiti commemorated the one-year anniversary of the tragic Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people.

Tuesday, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who co-chairs the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, helped inaugurate the opening of a rebuilt Iron Market, a famous commercial hub that was destroyed by the quake in downtown Port-au-Prince.

He also welcomed one of South Korea's largest manufacturers, Sae-a. The company will be the anchor tenant in a new industrial park being built in northern Haiti outside of Cap-Haitien.

Sae-a plans to invest about $80 million, which will create about 20,000 jobs.

The investment allows fabrics to be made in Haiti because it will include a fabric mill. Among its U.S. customers are Gap and Wal-Mart.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2011 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/13/v-print/2015400/a-positive-current.html#ixzz1B8NI7Fzf

``Today is an extraordinary day for Haiti,'' he said. ``We need more investments and much less aid.''

After all is said and done, bottom line, the key is investment. Plain and simple. No need to re-invent the wheel.

Great Reading !!!
And ... A Happy New Year to Ya 'll

Same here Professor GEN, WELCOME BACK !!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I have never left, I have been reading DT although not posting as often because of most busy schedule. As USADR and Manhattanite have warned: DT is the ghetto of the internet, and I my friend
can not spit upwards, and not get some of the spit in my face.