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 Topic: MARTELLY WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
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Sicot
Groupie
Joined: 2007 May 06
Location: Haiti
Posts: 67
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| Posted: 2012 July 08 at 8:58pm
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Too Soon for Carnival: Sweeping Haiti's 400,000 Poor Back Under the Rug
Anthropologist Working in Haiti; CUNY Professor
For those who haven't been to Haiti for a while, or for those who have never been but have seen the hell on earth portrayed in the media, the fact that Champs-de-Mars and other plazas in Port-au-Prince are no longer home to thousands of people is a symbol of progress.
Celebrating this "liberation" of public spaces, President Martelly is planning a Carnival des Fleurs, a tradition under Duvalier, scheduled to begin July 29, a day after the anniversary of the 1915 U.S. invasion.
For the 390,276 people the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates who are still under ripped sheets of plastic or tarp, it's too soon to celebrate.
Many believe this relocation of camps on highly-visible areas is akin to sweeping the garbage off the floor only to have it out of sight and out of mind, in someone else's backyard. Where are people going?
For its part, the IOM is keeping track of people they have relocated in the 16/6 program. But the 16/6 camps only account for 5 percent of the total camp population.
And for the others? "Nou pa konnen." We don't know.
We do know that places like Mòn Lopital are sites for thousands of new residents inching ever farther up the mountainside, in crowded shantytowns. Kanaran, a long stretch of desert land in the outskirts of town, is still growing -- no one knows how many people live there. I've heard estimates of 130,000 to 180,000 people but IOM has never done a census.
Like piles of garbage swept aside and neglected, away from the main plazas and busy thoroughfares are camps that are real, all too real. And they are not going away any time soon.
Among the eight camps in my study last summer, for example, HANCHO, Karade, and Kolonbi are already well on their way to becoming shantytowns, the Cité Soleils (which recently was upgraded to a "yellow zone") of the next generation. Some residents are beginning to erect walls or concrete foundations for their homes, some now made of scrap metal instead of tarp. A common denominator is that they are all hidden, on land that is relatively secure - many owned by former military members long in exile -- and of no strategic interest to investors or tourism promoters.
Unfortunately they also have in common an even increasing deterioration of the ripped sheets of plastic that are people's homes and primary services such as water. In Kolonbi, the IOM finally took out the latrines that hadn't been cleaned for months in February (they later opened a cholera treatment center). But new people -- arriving as the 16/6 program began -- pitched their tent right on top of the former site that still exudes a strong smell. The Red Cross's work to reinforce the walls on the ravine, where people now throw their excrement, has been stopped for several months.
Photo: Author. Ravine outside of Kolonbi camp
Toilets have also been removed in HANCHO, as well as a few residents, including the only family who sold hot meals. A walk through the windy, dusty camp reveals most tents -- in much worse condition than before -- occupied, with people singing, listening to the radio, washing clothes, cooking, or reading. A former army officer is reclaiming part of the space to build a factory; 15 families are at imminent risk of forced relocation since last Tuesday. With no relocation assistance or mediation from the IOM, they wait daily for the order to move, hoping it won't come in the middle of the night and accompanied by arson or machetes like other recent cases. Some may pitch their tent somewhere else in the camp, clearing the weeds where goats graze.
Photo: Author. State of tents, HANCHO.
In Karade, trees planted since the earthquake are now higher than many tents, offering some shade. And Frisline, whom I've known since 2003, proudly shared a banana from her yard. But there is still no clinic and it is still a 20 minute walk to get the water stationed outside the camp and outside the Delmas city limits, in front of the t-shelters installed by CRS for those displaced from St. Louis.
Frisline, who has had to twice buy new tarps, either suffocates in the heat trapped inside the fraying tarps or opens a flap, inviting dust to blow inside the tent. Karade is on a hill where the wind almost constantly kicks up dust. Since no one has invested in roads, rains mean a treacherous trek back home or even a mudslide. More than a dozen tents have been moved because the rains have eroded the ground by the ravine.
Photo: Author. Soil erosion, Karade.
Kolonbi, HANCHO, and Karade are by no means unique. Large camps are still tucked away among Port-au-Prince's teeming shantytowns, hillsides or valleys, like Acra (there are four camps bearing the name of this wealthy family), KID, Bourdon, Solino, Mòn Silo, Cineas...
Given the more complex realities, not to mention living under sheets of plastic ripped by another rainy season on top of the hottest summer in recent memory, it's too soon to celebrate. Where are people going? And are they living better than before? And what about those who remain?
Individual solutions may work well for those who made it on the list, but for the rest, only a collective social policy will be able to do more than sweep the problem onto someone else's doorstep. On Monday, an international campaign was launched to ask the Haitian government and donors to build quality social housing and stop forced eviction until said housing is built.
Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1122704. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The author would also like to thank the Professional Staff Congress-City University of New York, the CUNY Haiti Initiative, and the research team: York College - Sabine Bernard, Sandy Nelzy, Adlin Noël, Stephanie Semé and Tracey Ulcena and l'Université d'État d'Haïti -- Marie Laviaude Alexis, Théagène Dauphin, Mackenzy Dor, Jean-Rony Emile, Junior Jean François, Robenson Jean-Julien, Roody Jean Therilus, and Castelot Val.
Martelly is spending government money staying at the Fountainblue Hotel in Miami beach with his friends. This is a Michelle Bennett government back in power.
Their ostentatious flaunting of wealth and their seemingly insatiable appetite for public attention, have triggered widespread hatred toward the rich in the past 12 months ...bourgeoisie and its cronies. Martelly thinks that people are stupid, but he will soon find out that is not the case.
__________________
Sispan bay manti bann dezonèt. Blof pap mennen nou ankenn kote.
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elise
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 10226
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| Posted: 2012 July 08 at 11:51pm
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Haïti impoverished = Low real estate costs = Great bargains for the new buyers = more charitable donations = continued jobs for the NGO = perpetual dependence = degradation of mentality = genocide and suicide......
Et le cycle se répète, ad infinitum.
Mickey was chosen by the internationals and their corrupted Haitian agents, the apatrides, for this reason: Keep the depressing status quo. In despair, the poor people will cave in easily, betrayed by their so-called legislators.
So, as far as the masters are concerned, their poulain is doing a great job securing Haiti's underground wealth for them !
No troublemakers wanted. Persona non grata, the Haitian diasps forced to stacation, spending their dough where they've earned it.
Pas un mensonge: No one in power cares about the poor, the weak and the meek of this world.
Not even, and especially not the Vatican! The little priest has proven it.
If they did care, they would've made a liar of the Christ.
__________________
Paix sur la terre!
"Peace on earth, goodwill to men" by Casting Crowns. (Lien sonore et paroles @ "Sérénade au clair de moun" http://www.moun.com/forum4/forum_posts.asp?TID=7004&PN=1&TPN =149)
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Demagoji
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Joined: 2012 July 08
Location: United States
Posts: 8
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| Posted: 2012 July 09 at 9:47am
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Martelly’s Ostentatious displays of wealth.
Ostentatious displays of wealth by the rich can result in public criticism and hatred toward wealthy people as a whole. Such flaunting of wealth indicates the distorted values of rich people and their spiritual vacuum.
They flaunt their wealth to grab public attention and gain a sense of superiority, which often results in envy and animosity among those less fortunate. Society needs to promote the correct values, so that both the rich and the general public have healthy attitudes to money. The fact that the president is surrounded by drug dealers, crooks and smugglers tell the World as a whole who he really is. Things have changed; it will not be that easy to continue doing what is wrong.
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Martellytande'm
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Joined: 2012 May 03
Location: Haiti
Posts: 19
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| Posted: 2012 July 09 at 7:58pm
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APA NAP VANN PEYI A POU PIYAY. L'OR POUR LES ETRANGERS LES DECHETS POUR LES HAITIENS. SE RAT KAY KAP MANJE PAY KAY.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31 835
__________________
PREZIDAN FOK OU TANDE OSNON ANYEN PAP MACHE. OU RENMEN FLATTEUR TROP.
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barikad
Groupie
Joined: 2009 May 23
Location: Dominican Republic
Posts: 86
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| Posted: 2012 July 10 at 9:13am
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 Posted on Mon, Jul. 09, 2012 Vision of a new, modern Haiti rises from the rubbleBy Jacqueline Charles
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com Allison Shelley / For The Miami Herald Men work the night shift at the construction site of the Genesis building in Delmas 30. The modern 10-story building is being developed by Haitian businessman Patrick Figaro and his brothers in a quake-battered suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Perched overhead is an 80 feet construction crane. The building’s concrete foundation rises 40 feet in a commercial zone that connects devastated suburbs, its tall steel tendons saluting a blue sky. Haitian-envisioned, Haitian-financed and Haitian-constructed, the modern building — seven stories, with three levels of underground parking — that’s under construction is part of a new vision for Haiti, showcasing the promise and challenge facing a nation struggling to rebuild from the January 2010 earthquake.
“It’s a new beginning,” said Patrick Figaro, 45, a developer of Genesis, which borrows its name from the biblical narrative about the creation of civilization. “We are not only talking about revitalizing an area, but setting the standard for the modern Haiti.”
Two-and-a-half years after the 7.0 temblor destroyed much of Haiti’s capital and punched a hole in an already brittle economy, many envisioned a construction boom with dozens of projects, similar to Genesis, peppering the skyline. With $10 billion in aid pledged, the donor community had offered more than enough capital to begin a new city.
But donor funds lagged, and the public spending needed to grow the economy has been slow to take root.
Still, some like Figaro, a Haiti-born U.S.-educated architectural engineer, aren’t waiting on donors or the government to get moving. Figaro and his brothers have received help from local and international Haitian investors, one of the country’s largest banks, and hundreds of laborers.
For months, their family-run construction firm, Arcotec Haiti, has been quietly transforming a little under an acre at one of Haiti’s most important strategic commercial gateways into a modern seismic and hurricane-resistant complex. Taking place largely out of public view, except for the 80-foot construction crane perched in the skyline, Genesis offers three levels of underground parking and 100,000 square feet of commercial rental space that will include a rooftop café and 25 extended-stay hotel rooms for business travelers.
“This could easily be built in Miami,” said Javier Salman, the Cuban-American architect who designed the all-glass exterior, “modern, cutting-edge building” that will eventually rise 123 feet and be backlit at night. “It will be visible from the port, and from the Port-au-Prince airport. It screams, ‘Here I am.’ ”
Claude Pierre-Louis, executive director of Sogebank, agrees that the structure is state of the art.
“This project has a lot of imagination; it’s gutsy,’’ he said.
But that’s not the sole reason why Sogebank decided to provide $9 million in financing, Pierre-Louis said. Genesis, which is within walking distance of Sogebank’s quake-damaged headquarters, also responds to a need for commercial space, said Pierre-Louis, who plans to lease three floors. Construction costs of the building range between $15 million and $20 million.
“As a bank, we’ve always believed in the future of Haiti,” he said.
That future in recent years, has included several confidence-boosting, high-profile ventures by Haiti’s private sector including E-Power, a $56.7 million power generation investment, and soon-to-open $38 million Royal Oasis Hotel, which Arcotec built.
Like these entrepreneurs, observers say, the Figaros are taking a calculated risk to invest in hard assets, which require a longer than usual payback period in a country that has been unstable in the past, and whose private sector suffered $2.7 billion in losses in the quake, according to a survey by the sector’s Economic Forum.
“The Figaros are a model,” said prominent Haitian economist Kesner Pharel, because of the brothers’ alliance “with international firms to bring the know-how and the best practices in the construction field in Haiti.”
Haiti’s growth, Pharel said, isn’t just limited by economics, but also by the small size of its construction companies. As a result, most have lost out on the few available post-quake contracts, mostly to Dominican firms, because they lack the capacity and technical skills.
“We need some great re-engineering in order to become more competitive,” Pharel said.
Unlike many of Haiti’s post-quake construction projects, however, Genesis has no donor dollars. The little foreign input comes by way of its design, the international building codes to ensure that it can sustain any future quake with little or no damage and use of the Miami-Dade County hurricane code.
“This is about reinventing our image, and trying to show the world that Haitians can build too, and they can build something that is earthquake resistant and to the right standards,” said Greg Figaro, 42, who left his healthcare consultancy business in Boston to join Arcotec as executive chairman.
It’s also about reinventing the way business has been traditionally done in a country that continuously ranks at the bottom of the International Finance Corporation’s Doing Business Survey. For instance, to attract investors, the brothers formed a development company. There also is a board of directors to share in strategic decision-making.
“There is a new generation in many of these family-owned groups that has come to understand the country cannot be developed without the majority of the population being a part of it,” said Ary Naim, Haiti and Dominican Republic country head for the IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm. “They understand that everything they do has to be sustainable and inclusive.”
The IFC has a $55 million investment portfolio in Haiti with several private sector partners, including the Oasis and E-Power.
While unfamiliar with the Genesis project, Naim said Haiti’s private sector remains its biggest asset, especially for sorely needed job creation.
Still, some question the wisdom of building in Delmas, a particularly hard-hit city that has become known more for its densely populated sprawling slums and traffic congestion than its redevelopment potential.
Owned by the Figaro family for decades, the Genesis site was first developed in the 1970s by family patriarch Gérard Figaro. Haiti was transitioning from father to son in the brutal Duvalier dictatorship and textiles were the new market. A visionary, Figaro transformed the site into the headquarters for Citibank and Texaco.
Soon, the Imperial Movie Theater arrived across the street in the mostly underdeveloped, wooded area of residential homes of well-to-do families. Years later, Sogebank built its iconic sleek and modern headquarters. The boom then turned to bust, and a lack of zoning laws gave way to slums and urban sprawl.
Texaco left. Citibank stayed but the T-shaped building partially collapsed in the quake, killing several Citibank employees.
The brothers faced a quandary: walk away or use the property once again inspire development.
“It’s exactly the dream that my dad had,” said Rudy Figaro, 52, who returned to Haiti last year to head Arcotec as COO after 25 years as a software engineer in Boston. “He achieved it, from 1971 to ‘75. There wasn’t anything in that area, just a road. For us, doing something like this represents the same thing, several decades later.”
But it hasn’t been easy. Everything from the soil to the weather to finding workers capable of constructing such an intricate building has been a challenge, say the Figaros. For months the project was delayed because both the site and neighboring property were occupied by quake victims.
During the recent rainy season, the 120 workers on the morning shift began every day by pumping flood water off the site. “I learn every day and what I learn I share with my people,” Patrick Figaro said on a recent morning.
At least a dozen workers are former tent dwellers and previously jobless. Others like Prevy Docteur are returnees from the nearby Turks and Caicos. “Coming here every day, I am happy,” said Docteur, who supervises a crew of carpenters. “There are a lot of people in Haiti with knowledge and who can work. All that’s missing is the opportunity.” |
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lamdaica
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Joined: 2009 March 07
Location: Benin
Posts: 26
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| Posted: 2012 July 10 at 8:26pm
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Men yon bèl foto prezidan Martelly avek François Adrien nan bal Pikliz samdi dènye a. Nou mande prezidan an bay sekretè'l yo lòd pou fè kichoy pou tout ayisien ka koumanse danse tou.
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RESTAVÈK SE RESTAVÈK………
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Flex
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 Aug 31
Location: Lebanon
Posts: 105
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| Posted: 2012 July 10 at 10:31pm
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Dans un bidonville d'Haïti, le sport comme antidote à l'exclusion
Cité-soleil, vaste bidonville de Port-au-Prince, est l'endroit le plus dangereux de Haïti. C'est dans ce quartier miséreux qu'un fils de famille a choisi d'ériger un stade de football et un centre sportif "pour combattre l'injustice".
Rien ne prédestinait Robert Duval, rejeton d'une famille d'industriels, à se retrouver dans cet endroit où plus de 300.000 Haïtiens vivent dans des conditions inhumaines, lui qui a fait des études dans des universités nord-américaines.
"Je suis venu à Cité-soleil parce que je cherchais un engagement social conforme à ma vision de la vie. Je me suis dit que j'allais monter un centre de développement de talents sportifs", dit-il.
Après avoir fait de la prison sous les Duvalier, Robert Duval, mieux connu sous son surnom de "Bobby", a voulu donner une nouvelle direction à sa vie. Depuis près de 20 ans, il est à la tête d'un centre sportif, l'Athlétique d'Haïti, planté au coeur du bidonville sur une ancienne décharge.
En venant dans ce quartier ostracisé, cet ancien sportif a voulu se "rapprocher des exclus", explique-t-il.
Après avoir donné des leçons de football à un petit groupe de jeunes déshérités, il s'est retrouvé avec plusieurs centaines d'enfants. Le projet a grandi et fournit désormais le gros des footballeurs des clubs professionnels et de la sélection nationale.
"J'ai formé des dizaines et des dizaines de jeunes footballeurs haïtiens et je les ai emmenés dans des compétitions en Europe et aux Etats-Unis", raconte-t-il, montrant les trophées qu'il a rapportés de tournois disputés en Norvège, aux Etats-Unis et récemment de France, la Coupe des sans-abri.
5 millions nécessaires
Son engagement a valu à Bobby une reconnaissance internationale. La chaîne de télévision américaine CNN en a fait un de ses "héros" en 2007.
"Je suis reconnu à l'étranger pour mon travail, mais pas forcément en Haïti. Il y a encore des irréductibles qui pensent que je ne devrais pas venir ici. Ils pensent que ma place n'est pas là", dit Robert Duval. "Mais c'est un choix", répète-t-il.
Pour son choix, il est respecté et adulé à Cité-soleil, où il donne de l'espoir à des jeunes en T-shirt rouge en train de jouer sous un chaud soleil.
"Je suis un milieu, je rêve de jouer dans des clubs en Europe", dit Ariel Charles, 14 ans, surnommé Zannetti.
"Mon rêve c'est de jouer comme Suarez, comme Messi", renchérissent deux autres garçons qui reviennent de l'entraînement pour prendre place au réfectoire où un plat de riz leur est servi.
"Ils viennent de loin pour s'entraîner. Ils jouent au foot, mais aussi au basket, font du karaté ou de la boxe", dit Robert Duval. "Ils reçoivent aussi à manger et il y a une école classique. C'est important", ajoute-t-il.
Aujourd'hui, Bobby nourrit le projet de construire un grand stade de 15.000 places à Cité-soleil.
"C'est un grand projet pour ce quartier détesté comme une plaie et que certains avaient souhaité raser", dit l'ancien militant.
Avec l'aide de la Banque interaméricaine de développement, de la Clinton Global Initiative et d'autres mécènes, Robert Duval compte récolter les 5 millions de dollars nécessaires.
"Le projet avance, le terrain est là, il m'a été offert par un Haïtien. Nous allons ériger un beau stade qui sera baptisé Phoenix": les fondations sont faites avec les débris des destructions provoquées par le séisme de janvier 2010 qui a ravagé Port-au-Prince, explique-t-il.
Ses plans ne s'arrêtent pas là: "Avant de mourir, je rêve de monter des académies sportives dans tout le pays pour former des athlètes".
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Lespoir
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Joined: 2006 Feb 14
Location: United States
Posts: 102
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| Posted: 2012 July 11 at 11:58am
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Haïti - Économie : Duty Free Americas à l’aéroport Toussaint Louverture
11/07/2012 10:51:19
Duty Free Americas (DFA), un des principaux opérateurs au niveau mondial, de l'industrie des articles exonérés de taxes, annonce la signature récente d'un contrat avec l'Aéroport International Toussaint Louverture à Port-au-Prince, lieu où ses opérations commerciales débuteront. Dans ce contexte, il fournira des investissements importants pour encourager et faciliter le tourisme, créera un plus grand nombre d’emplois dignes et améliorera la qualité de vie du peuple haïtien.
Avec l’appui du Gouvernement du Président Martelly, Duty Free America réalisera cette année, un investissement important dans le pays en ouvrant ses portes commerciales et en offrant aux résidents et aux touristes l’option d’acheter des marques reconnues et originales qui ne sont pas disponibles actuellement à l'Aéroport et qui pourront être achetées à des prix abordables et exonérés d'impôts. DFA en outre, contribuera à créer des emplois et à générer des revenus additionnels en Haïti.
En Savoir plus sur Duty Free Americas :
Duty Free Americas est dans l'industrie des magasin hors taxes depuis plus de 20 ans et exploite plus de 150 magasins situés entre autres dans les aéroports suivants: Atlanta, Belize, Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, El Salvador, Honduras, Maracaibo, Miami, New York, Nicaragua, Punta Cana et Washington DC, et dans les ports et les frontières suivants: Bolivie, Brésil, Canada, Colombie, Costa Rica, Mexique, Panama, Uruguay et Venezuela, avec des centres d’approvisionnement et d’opérations aux États-Unis (Miami et Laredo), en Amérique Latine (Panama et Uruguay) et à Hong Kong en Asie.
HL/ HaïtiLibre
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Betty
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Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: Haiti
Posts: 36
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| Posted: 2012 July 11 at 11:48pm
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Clearly, it remains for Martelly and his team to stop the rhetoric and take action. Otherwise, he runs the risk of his mandate not ending on a note that would be any different from that of his predecessor.
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MabSeanny
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Joined: 2010 Aug 28
Posts: 28
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| Posted: 2012 July 12 at 8:47am
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Le fils du président dispose de plus de 5 millions de dollars pour ériger des stades de foot
C'est lui qui l'a confié à l'Agence HPN.
Il est le conseiller du président de la république pour les questions de sport.
Il a à sa disposition une enveloppe de plus de Cinq Miliions de Dollars pour la réalisation de son plan. Olivier Martelly est l'ainé des trois enfants Sofia et Michel martelly et il a révélé que son projet construction de Stades marche bien. Certains sont complètement achevés. D'autres sont en construction.
Selon Olivier Martelly, avant la fin de l’année 2012, le pays sera doté de dix nouveaux terrains de football, comme prévu dans le cadre du Programme national dénommé : « Foutbòl pou chanjman » (Football pour le changement) dont il a la gestion.
Faisant part de l’état d’avancement des constructions, Olivier Martelly a informé que les terrains de Gressier et de Verrettes ont été déjà inaugurés. Deux autres, à savoir ceux de Thomonde et de Jérémie sont à leur phase finale.
Les travaux de construction des terrains de Milot (Nord), Saint-Louis du Sud (Sud) et Cayes Jacmel (Sud-Est) sont en cours d’exécution. Dans deux semaines, a-t-il indiqué, on procédera à la construction de trois autres terrains dans d’autres départements du territoire conformément au plan de travail prévu.
« Comme je l’ai promis, avant la fin de l’année en cours dix nouveaux terrains de football seront disponibles dans le pays », a-t-il déclaré, précisant toutefois que son programme a été conçu en dehors de tous autres projets sportifs du gouvernement.
Parallèlement, il a informé que le Parc Sainte-Thérèse de Pétion-Ville qui commence à être vidé de ceux qui l'occupaient depuis le séisme de janvier 2010, sera sous peu réhabilité pour le bonheur des jeunes sportifs haïtiens.
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Mark
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Joined: 2005 Sep 13
Location: United States
Posts: 120
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| Posted: 2012 July 12 at 11:28am
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Martellytande'm
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Joined: 2012 May 03
Location: Haiti
Posts: 19
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| Posted: 2012 July 14 at 12:22am
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Martelly sispan voyaje ap gaspiye lajan ke peyi dayiti pa genyen. Sispan desann nan Fountainbleu Hotel Miami Beach sou do pèp la. Lè ou pat prezidan ou pat konn desann nan gwo Hotel sayo. Sak pirèd la se ke wap maché ak yon kolonn bandi degizé an moun desan. Ayisien nan mizè pandan se tan ou ranmasse yon bann ak yon pakèt ranmassi de première heure ou mete chita bò kote’w. Menm si ou panse ke tout moun sòt se tèt ou wap bay manti. Yap veye’w e pagen manti nan sa. Bal la pral fini si ou kontinye sou move chemin saa.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/10/2894915/north-miami-fo ots-the-bill-for.html
Posted on Fri, Jul. 13, 2012 North Miami foots the bill for Haiti president’s security detailBy Nadege Green
The Miami Herald Gilbert Saurel / Handout Haiti President Michel Martelly, left, celebrates with Francois Adrien, owner of Pikliz.com, a popular Haitian website. The party was held Saturday night in Miami; the city of North Miami provided the police escort to Martelly to the party and for his three-day. Haiti President Michel Martelly, left, celebrates with Francois Adrien, owner of Pikliz.com, a popular Haitian website. The party was held Saturday night in Miami; the city of North Miami provided the police escort to Martelly to the party and for his three-day stay, costing the city's taxpayers more than $8,000. Haitian President Michel Martelly jetted into South Florida last weekend ready to party. Inside a crowded ballroom on Saturday night, the pop-star-turned-president grabbed the microphone, swayed from side-to-side and riled up the crowd with an impromptu performance at the Renaissance Ballroom off Calle Ocho. It was the eighth anniversary celebration for a popular Haitian website.
Accompanying him to the party were North Miami police officers, who provided private security detail for his Friday-to-Sunday visit, after the Secret Service had turned him down because of short notice. The cost of the visit to North Miami taxpayers: $8,800, the city said.
The publicly funded security detail has irked some in North Miami, which like many other municipalities is struggling financially — and where, like other South Florida communities, international affairs can stir emotions.
While some laud the city’s decision, others say it impacts the city’s budget and gives the appearance of a gulf between Haitians and non-Haitians in the Northeast Miami-Dade city. Haitians represent roughly one-third of the population.
“Let the president of Haiti pay for his own security,” said Michelle Garcia, a North Miami resident who said she feels the city is divided along ethnic lines.
Mayor Andre Pierre, who was born in Haiti, said his administration celebrates the cultures of all residents.
“Sometime you have one isolated incident and they want to use that as the norm,” Pierre said. “It’s a blatant lie that this administration only helps or only does things for Haitians. It’s outrageous that as diverse as North Miami is someone would make that statement.”
Pierre said Friday he was not involved with North Miami assigning security for Martelly. He said he was out of town over the weekend and didn’t know the details. A city spokeswoman would not elaborate, citing security concerns.
“The North Miami Police Department was requested to provide assistance to support a visit by an international dignitary, Haiti President Michel Martelly. We honored the request by providing assistance with this detail.
“Due to the nature of the security and confidentiality of this high-profile dignitary, we are not able to provide further details,’” spokeswoman Pam Solomon emailed The Miami Herald.
The city declined to say how many officers were involved, and it did not respond to a public records request asking for the timesheets of the officers who provided security for Martelly.
The Consul General of Haiti in Miami, Francois Guillaume, said Friday he contacted North Miami after the Secret Service option did not work out.
“We have a good relationship with North Miami; the chief of police is aware of the dignitaries we deal with,’’ he said.
Former North Miami Mayor Joe Celestin defended the city-provided detail.
“A large group of our residents are Haitian-American. If the Secret Service can’t give protection, this is something minor for North Miami to give respect to our president. He’s our president, at the minimum he deserves that kind of respect from us,” Celestin said .
Resident Roseline Philippe said, however, she was concerned about the $8,800 expenditure on the city’s finances. North Miami’s tax base has declined in recent years because of the weak economy.
“This is not a question of I am Haitian. I am a taxpayer,” Philippe said. “When you take my money are you using it for the right thing? I’m tired of the double standard.”
Solomon said the city did not pull officers from their regular patrols.
The Secret Service, which typically provides these services for visiting dignitaries, said Martelly’s staff did not give them the minimum 72 hours notice to prepare for his visit. Nor did staffers provide an itinerary.
“They made their request in less than 24 hours, leaving us with little preparation time and very minimal information to prepare and plan,” said Special Agent in Charge Paula Reid, who leads the Miami Secret Service field office.
Secret Service agents helped Martelly navigate his way through the airport, but after that he was on his own.
As an international hub, Miami-Dade County hosts many visiting heads of states and other dignitaries, and it is not uncommon for Miami-Dade police to provide security as the visitors travel around the county. In fact, the county police department has officers specially trained for this type of work.
But North Miami has a close relationship with Haiti and its dignitaries. Some members of the city’s staff, including Police Chief Marc Elias, recently returned from hosting a disaster preparedness workshop in Haiti, where Martelly made an appearance.
And North Miami is a sister city to Delmas, Haiti.
So Guillaume called the city of North Miami, which provided the service, even though Martelly’s main social engagement for the weekend took place well outside the city limits.
At 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Martelly and his North Miami security made their way to the Renaissance Ballroom, 5910 SW Eighth St., for a party for Pikliz.com, a popular Haitian website that features news, politics, business and culture. Martelly, dressed in a red shirt and dark gray slacks, shared the stage with the Haitian headliner band, Les Difficiles de Petion-Ville, crooning to the band’s popular song, Min Polo.
“When the president reached the front door of the ballroom, the host announced the president of Haiti,” said Francois Adrien, owner of Pikliz.com. “Everybody went nuts. They could not believe it. When he appeared, the welcome was incredible.”
Adrien said there were about five officers who helped clear the path for Martelly to enter the ballroom. They stood guard into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Adrien was a party promoter for Martelly when he was better known as “Sweet Micky,” the konpa music superstar. He said he contacted Martelly a few months ago to invite him to the anniversary party. Four days before the bash, the president confirmed he would attend, Adrien said.
“Nobody knew he was coming,” Adrien said. “When I was advised he was in the parking lot I met him, we shook hands and he wished Pikliz a happy anniversary.”
When the party ended just before dawn Sunday, Martelly returned to his hotel room. Later that day, the president returned to Haiti.
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PREZIDAN FOK OU TANDE OSNON ANYEN PAP MACHE. OU RENMEN FLATTEUR TROP.
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Dégand
Groupie
Joined: 2006 March 26
Location: Haiti
Posts: 63
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| Posted: 2012 July 14 at 11:34pm
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Haiti earthquake camps clearing out; problems now become hidden
Many Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake are moving to crowded homes or slums. Others fare better with a rental subsidy, but it's temporary.
Charles Kerby, 6, walks through what remains of the St. Therese camp, set up for people displaced by the 2010 earthquake, in Petionville, Haiti, last month. (Dieu Nalio Chery, Associated Press / June 16, 2012) |
By Allyn Gaestel, Los Angeles Times July 15, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Facing the crumpled remnants of the national palace, an expansive plaza is punctuated by trees, benches and statues of Haitian heroes. Students read in the shade, women gossip, children play soccer. This serene picture in Port-au-Prince's central square might seem ordinary, but it is not. After a massive earthquake devastated Haiti's capital on Jan. 12, 2010, about 5,000 displaced people took shelter on the square, turning it into a crowded and dangerous new neighborhood. Now, 2 1/2 years later, the plaza known as Champs de Mars has been cleared, save for a few straggling tents. The number of displaced Haitians has dropped from 1.5 million to just under 400,000, according to the International Organization of Migration, changing the look of a capital whose landscape was defined for many months by piles of rubble and fraying tent encampments. But the progress is largely cosmetic. Although a few camps have benefited from aid programs, a grave underlying housing shortage means that the majority of those who left the camps have disappeared into the overcrowded homes of relatives or constructed precarious shacks in hillside slums. The recent clearing of Champs de Mars is one sign of how urgently Haiti's government and its image-conscious elite want to return public squares to normality. A $78-million project dubbed "16/6" aims to repair 16 damaged neighborhoods and "decongest" six camps. A separate Canadian program paid to find homes for the residents of Champs de Mars. Under 16/6, camp dwellers and residents in damaged neighborhoods can choose between having their homes fixed and taking a one-year rental subsidy of $500. About 10,000 families have chosen the subsidy. Those who found a cheaper home could pocket leftover funds. Beneficiaries sounded excited to leave the camps, but worried about what happens when the subsidy runs out. Many complained that a rental subsidy does little to improve their lives as long as they remain unemployed and impoverished. "The money isn't enough," said Rossi Jacques Casimir, 25, who moved out of Champs de Mars with his family of four. "What will we do next year?" Officials say the rent subsidy is emergency aid for the displaced, not a broad development solution. In one of the neighborhoods being refurbished, called Morne Hercule, brightly painted pink and yellow houses glisten on a hillside. Enite Fleuriot, 47, lives in her newly repaired home with six children. She had stayed away from the house, where three of her children were crushed in the earthquake, until the repairs were complete. "It used to be such a sad neighborhood," Fleuriot said. "Now it's coming back." Down the hill from Fleuriot's house, though, a neighbor's home totters on the edge of a ravine. That house won't be repaired because it is too vulnerable to landslides and flooding. The 16/6 program has limited reach, with funds to help about 5% of camp dwellers. Many other people await relief in camps on vacant private lots. But as property owners lose patience with the squatters, some camp residents face eviction, at times by force. Tens of thousands of people have given up on crowded Port-au-Prince and headed north to chaparral-covered hillsides overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The result: huge, impromptu settlements lacking water or electricity that many fear could become the country's newest slum. The communities are a reminder of a wider battle over land in Haiti that usually breaks along class lines. Rose Saintil, 40, moved north with all her fellow camp residents after being evicted. "This is better," Saintil said, peering from the opening of a newly erected communal tent, feeling the sea breeze in her face. But her move became somebody else's problem. "This isn't good decoration," said Ronald "Roro" Nelson, gesturing to the tarp shelters blanketing the hillside. Nelson said he was "with the government" but refused to give his title. On this day, he was with businessman Henry Thevenin, who said the land has been in his family for almost 200 years, and that he plans to build a hotel with a marina and golf course. "In what kind of country do you go next to the water and find houses like that?" Thevenin asked, taking in the view of picturesque sea and the carpet of shacks and small houses strewn across the hillside. The land was officially declared for "public use" by then-President Rene Preval after the earthquake. Thevenin brushed off the declaration. "I heard something about that," he said. Meanwhile, the displaced people in the encampments on private land remain out of public view, easily forgotten. "Once you've removed the public, visible camps, you risk taking your eye off the ball and don't think about the grim situations of people living in the hidden camps," said Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for the International Organization of Migration. Esperance Carlange lives with six relatives in a tent camp tucked behind a university dormitory. On a recent day, her belongings were spread on the ground; she was moving from a tattered, rain-flooded tent into a temporary shelter provided by the migration organization. But she still felt rootless. "This isn't what all the people who came to help told us," she said. "That 2 1/2 years later, we'd still be under tents." Gaestel is a special correspondent. |
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vanova
Groupie
Joined: 2005 Aug 22
Location: Russian Federation
Posts: 52
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| Posted: 2012 July 15 at 10:59pm
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Haiti: Lawmaker Denounces Pressure to Appoint Electoral Council Members
- Sunday, 15 July 2012 14:24
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - The First Secretary of the Great Body that is the Senate, Steven Benoit (Ouest/Alternative) characterized the letter by President Martelly as a lack of respect for another power, in requesting that the legislature contribute within 8 days (now 4) its 3 members of the Permanent Electoral Council.
Indeed, Senator Benoit was speaking on Radio Magik 9 on Friday about a letter, dated July 9th, in which the Head of State asked that the upper and lower house of Parliament to meet with urgency to deliver its three members that will sit on the nation's electoral council.
Benoit said:
"It is a lack of respect, an authority can not issue an ultimatium to another power..." - Steven Benoit, Senator"
Senator Benoit is known for speaking against the abuse of power that the Executive government of Haiti often demonstrates and in this case, although Benoit is correct that the executive can not place an ultimatum on the legislature, it is also correct that the Head of State ensure the proper functioning of the government.
The Martelly-Lamothe administration hopes to hold elections before the end of 2012; elections that should have been held in November 2011 and have costed a third of the senate to become inactive due to the end of their mandates and over 100 municipal officials, mayors, to hold their seats long beyond their terms.
But Senator Benoit did pass blame to his colleagues in the legislature because for more than two months the Senate has not been able to hold any sessions. Benoit, for one reason, said that members of parliament spend more time trying to get into the good graces of the executive at the expense of parliament.
"They participate in all meetings of the National Palace or the Prime Ministry. Sometimes they are scrambling to sit closer to the President or Prime Minister, while they systematically refuse to attend meetings..." - Steven Benoit
Steven Benoit attested to another reason, the fact that Senators who opposed the publication of the amendment of the Constitution or that have other grievances are refusing to come to meetings to defend their views in debates.
Senator John William Jeanty (Nippes/Konba), one of the strongest opponents to the publication of the amended Constitution, has promised to reverse quorum, by leaving senate meetings to not allow the parliament to vote its representatives to the Permanent Electoral Council.
The senate has had a very fragile quorum with only 20 out of 30 senators and the requirement that 2/3s be present to decide on CEP members.
The Judiciary, through the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power (CSPJ) began its process of selecting CEP members on Friday and will begin deliberating its decisions on Tuesday July 17.
The Executive presumably has selected its 3 members.
The CEP requires that all 9 members be selected by all three branches of the government, each selecting three. It is beginning to be discussed that the CEP will only seat six members without representatives from the Legislature as the government strives to hold elections in 2012.
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Helena
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 June 06
Location: Haiti
Posts: 159
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| Posted: 2012 July 18 at 12:08am
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Haiti’s government adds Haitian company to US-backed industrial park in country’s north
By Associated Press, Published: July 17AP
CARACOL, Haiti — The Haitian government agreed Tuesday to allow a local painting manufacturing company become the second tenant at a major U.S.-backed industrial park under construction in the northern end of the country.
The agreement came after President Michel Martelly and Cheryl Mills of the U.S. State Department took a tour of a 10-megawatt electrical plant that will power the Caracol Haiti Industrial Park and houses for up to 1,500 workers by year’s end. The newest tenant, Peintures Caraibes SA, will join South Korean garment manufacturer Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. and will export paint made by Sherwin Williams along with its own locally made paint. The facility will initially employ 167 people, with the expectation of hiring a total of 350 people, said Pierre Yves Gardere, CEO of Peintures Caraibes. “It’s Haitian companies that came to the park and we’re waiting for others to come, too,” Martelly said at the future site of Peintures Caraibes, which is expected to begin production in October. Financed by $224 million in subsidies, the Caracol Park is the U.S.’s biggest investment in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake clobbered the capital of Port-au-Prince and threw up to 1.5 million people into grim settlements in southern Haiti. The bulk of reconstruction has focused on the crowded capital and other heavily damaged cities, but the U.S. government has also directed rebuilding efforts to other parts of Haiti. The Caracol project on a 617-acre (250-hectare) site was in the works long before the earthquake and is supposed to be Haiti’s largest private employer. The goal is to provide 20,000 jobs at the park and create 133,000 in all through cottage industries. Sae-A, the main tenant, is scheduled to begin shipping T-shirts in September. Among the company’s 20 existing factories are plants in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Indonesia and Vietnam. Sae-A has contracts with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to make products in Haiti, and Target Corp. executives recently toured the project. Workers will be paid Haiti’s minimum wage, which is $5 a day, and will be eligible for bonuses based on performance. Critics of Haiti’s garment sector say the wage isn’t enough to provide a living. Critics also worry the industrial park could replicate earlier development efforts that spawned poor neighborhoods. One of Haiti’s biggest shantytowns, Cite Soleil, was originally designed as a housing project for people working in a nearby manufacturing plant in Port-au-Prince. But when years of political instability scared off investors, the facility faltered and so did its employees. Cite Soleil is now a maze-like shantytown. Caracol’s proponents argue they have spread investments in multiple communities in the north in an effort to prevent such an outcome. The projects range from not only housing and infrastructure but also agriculture. “The idea was really to do development differently and to break with the development that Haiti has seen in the past,” said Jean-Louis Warnholz, senior adviser to Mills, who is counselor and chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Even if you do not like Martelly you have to admit that his government has done more for the country than the Lavalas regime. |
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Cefentbot
Newbie
Joined: 2011 July 19
Location: Angola
Posts: 11
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| Posted: 2012 July 19 at 7:17pm
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Haiti - FLASH : Some members of the Presidential team, victims of road
We just learned that some members of the Presidential team, as well as the Departmental Delegate on mission in the North, were victims of a road accident, this Thursday, July 19, in the town of Milot. The victims, whose a child of six years, of executives assigned to the Office of Communication of the Presidency, to the Presidential Security and to the Departmental Delegation of North, have been rushed to hospitals in the capital to receive appropriate care.
According to Lucien Jura, Spokesperson of the Presidency "during the return [of an inspection visit of the Citadelle] there is one of the motorcycle [4 wheels] 'Polaris', who lost its brakes. On board there were two security officers and the Departmental Delegate of the North, Mr. Yvon Altéon, and two members of the Communication of the Presidency and a member of the logistics department.
These passengers were injured in the accident. A little girl of six years who was on the trajectory on the road, was also injured during the accident. We must clarified that the Head of the State and the official delegation was in front [the procession], so they were not involved in the accident.
Quickly there were arrangements, so that the injured were transported to the Hospital Sacré-Coeur of Milot and for others, provisions have been taken to send them to Port-au-Prince by helicopter.
The Head of State is safe and sound and the officials as well. The resident Martelly is very affected by what happened [...] he is at the National Palace, and arrangements were taken to ensure that the best specialists go to the bedside of the wounded, and receive the best care possible..."
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jennifer
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 318
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| Posted: 2012 July 21 at 12:23am
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Haiti - Heritage : The President Martelly angry at the Citadelle
20/07/2012 13:38:36
The President Martelly, accompanied by his adviser Grégory Mayard-Paul, of Jean Mario Dupuy, the Minister of Culture, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism, of Departmental Delegate of the North, Mr. Yvon Altéon and of officials of the Institute for the Protection of National Heritage (ISPAN) responsible of the restoration of the Citadelle, went Thursday, July 19, on the historic site of the Citadelle Laferrière of Milot [the largest Citadel of Caribbean] to observe the management of this jewel of Haitian heritage, built in the early nineteenth century by Henri-Christophe. Note that since 1982 the Historical National Park grouping the Citadelle Laferrière, the Palace Sans-souci and the Ramiers is classified World Heritage by UNESCO.
Just arrived on site, the Head of State was unpleasantly surprised by finding the state of disrepair, of abandonment and the lack of maintenance in which was the Citadelle. Without hiding his anger, the President Martelly described what he saw as irresponsible and inconceivable "that is our identity who is going to disappear ! See how herbs grow on the floor and on the and walls of the citadel, this is unacceptable !"
The President attacked particularly the staff of ISPAN, which according to him did nothing to maintain and safeguard the Citadelle "Who works here ? Are they paid, to leave this national pride in this state ? [...] It is abnormal that people continue to get money from the State without working [...] Those responsible have plans for the Citadelle ?" has openly questioned the Head of the State under the influence of emotion [and a great disappointment].
Invited to visit the upper levels of the citadel, the Head of State has refused, given the deplorable state of the Citadelle and the lack of security for visitors, he explained.
The Minister of Culture, who also acknowledged [after "the visit"] that the situation was "unacceptable" [even more that Haiti made great effort for the international tourism promotion of its historical sites], announced that the Ministry would take emergency measures with Unesco and other donors, to begin the restoration of the Citadelle as soon as possible." |
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elise
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 10226
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| Posted: 2012 July 21 at 6:50pm
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The President attacked particularly the staff of ISPAN, which according to him did nothing to maintain and safeguard the Citadelle "Who works here ? Are they paid, to leave this national pride in this state ? [...] It is abnormal that people continue to get money from the State without working [...] Those responsible have plans for the Citadelle ?" has openly questioned the Head of the State under the influence of emotion [and a great disappointment].
Invited to visit the upper levels of the citadel, the Head of State has refused, given the deplorable state of the Citadelle and the lack of security for visitors, he explained.
Eske se pa de Ayiti Mateli tap pale ?
Koman se fèt il ke Mateli sezi de eta Citadelle la Ferrère ?!?
Li pa ka kwè ke responsab patrimwan nasional pa gen plan de mentyen pou Sitadel Roi Christophe lan ¿!?
Men sa pa etone li ke minist la kultu ak tourizm yo gen endesans ap oganize kanaval an plen ete pou atire tourist nan yon peyi sal kom ti pêy ti dan ?!?
Ni yo ni li pa panse ke kalite tourist kita vini nan kanaval nan yon anvironman malsen ki blayi an Ayiti ka debake avek plis ke kelke dola sou -- e nan -- ko yo.
An pasan, koman se fètil ke se koulyea ke Mateli ouvri zye sou kondision sitatel la ? Jen om lan ap fè dega nan tour kom swit miki depi kèk dekad. Lale OKap mem resaman.
Mem si li pa te ale Sitadel, eta arondisman PauP ta dwe ouvri konsyans li sou reyalite ke Ayiti se yon peyi sanz okenn enfrastruktu valab, sutou rout avek sous elektrisite vyab ?!?
Michel pa dwe iyore ke li se CEO = Pi gro chef youn nan pi gros manufaktu la korupsion dan le mond ?!?
Ke li mem, ansanm avek pil prezidan kap piye peyi depwi dikdantan, pa jam panse a peye polisye, ti jandam, edukater, staf medikal -- ansanm avek yon pil lot anplwaye leta -- pa mem yon peni rouj pandan dè mwa, chak ane ?!?
Dyasps ki repatriye pou entegre gouvèman yo ta dwe fè mye ! Men, elas; se pa fot yo non plus. Yo pa sanble gen dispozision mem pou imite bon jan patron etranje.
Michel pa supoze iyore ke kapitalish yo meprize, e mem rayi provensialish ak paysanish yo !!!
Eske li te atann li ke katèl zami potoprensyen li yo ta pral riske la vi yo nan vwayaj danjere sa yo pou ale travay nan provens, o non de la patri ¿!? Ces patrie-pocheurs ?!?
Eske li pa konprann rezon ke tout gro zafè leta rete konsantre nan PauP ?!?
Eske li pa reyalize ke gro katèl sevis publik yo, e sutou politisyen elu yo, panse ke chek ke yo resevwa de leta pou administre zafe konstityan yo se saler endividuel yo ¿!?
Ke se paske Ayiti se yon ti peuplade de nègres, ki anba kriz autism spektrom kronik, zot mete li nan tèt gouvènman, san yon plan de devlopman, an depi de dosye delenkans li ?!?
Men se pa fot yo. Ayiti te dwe genyen plan de devlopman e restorasion nasional depi lontan aprè 1934.
Elas !
Se tristeman revoltan ke obsesion avek riches fasil tounen yon gangrèn kolektiv ki ankiloze, e soti pou paralize peuplade corrompue ke zot fè de Ayisien.
Edited 10:46 7/22/12
__________________
Paix sur la terre!
"Peace on earth, goodwill to men" by Casting Crowns. (Lien sonore et paroles @ "Sérénade au clair de moun" http://www.moun.com/forum4/forum_posts.asp?TID=7004&PN=1&TPN =149)
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elise
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 10226
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| Posted: 2012 July 21 at 7:08pm
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Haiti - USA : 360,000 dollars to save local heritage
24/09/2010 14:42:19
Last Friday, during a ceremony at the Citadelle La Ferrière (Milot, Nord department) in the presence of Mr Patrick Delatour, Minister of Tourism, Daniel Elias, Director of the Institute for the Protection of Heritage National (Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National ISPAN), and representatives of local government, the United States Ambassador, Kenneth H. Merten on behalf of the U.S. government gave officially to the ISPAN, a check totaling US$363,187 for two subventions.
The initial funding in an amount of $250,000 is to support ISPAN to inventory and assess the damage to historical monuments and buildings in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake in reorganizing an office by equipping it with the equipment and labor necessary to enable it to systematically document the damage.
The second amount of 113.187 dollars intended to help to preserve the Citadelle La Ferrière and continue the work previously undertaken through prior subventions. This new subvention will include work such as: repairing the roof of the Batterie Royale and
restoration of the military barracks of the Palace of Sans Souci.
This is not the first time that the U.S. government working in partnership with ISPAN. The United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince has already worked with ISPAN on six projects during the last decade, including the transformation of the old Jacmel prison into a cultural center and performing emergency repairs to former Grand Grand Lycée of Port-au-Prince.
The ambassador said that "The United States shares the sights of the ISPAN to knowing that the safeguard of the inheritance of Haiti for the future generations is paramount for the Haitian people and its Haitian identity [...] these two subventions represents part of our engagement and constitutes our manner of supporting the Haitian government so that it carries out his objective which is to protect the cultural heritage for all the Haitians."
IP/ HaitiLibre
http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1267-haiti-usa-360-000-dol lars-to-save-local-heritage.html
__________________
Paix sur la terre!
"Peace on earth, goodwill to men" by Casting Crowns. (Lien sonore et paroles @ "Sérénade au clair de moun" http://www.moun.com/forum4/forum_posts.asp?TID=7004&PN=1&TPN =149)
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elise
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 10226
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| Posted: 2012 July 21 at 7:30pm
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I hope that they will put this money where it's supposed to go: In the pockets of the workers who will be renovating the Citadelle and other historical structures in Haiti. For, it would be a national shame if those poor tourists, who are being lured to Haiti, were to find the national patrimoine in continued state of neglect.
Incidentally, American taxpayers should expect to receive official thanks with receipts, and be allowed to claim tax deductions for all of their involuntary contributions to the wealth of those irresponsible entities managing those fondations.
Too many public officials, and gurus of some of those thousands of ONGs are living large in Haiti and in their homelands, with US workers' taxes and private donations, whose friends and relatives face bankruptcy due to continued high unemployment during the last four years.
Many have lost their homes.
Some their health.
Others, their mind.
Literally !
   
__________________
Paix sur la terre!
"Peace on earth, goodwill to men" by Casting Crowns. (Lien sonore et paroles @ "Sérénade au clair de moun" http://www.moun.com/forum4/forum_posts.asp?TID=7004&PN=1&TPN =149)
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elise
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: USA
Posts: 10226
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| Posted: 2012 July 21 at 7:33pm
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Haiti - Economy : IMF approves $7,4 million of additional credit to Haiti
21/07/2012 11:24:42
Yesterday Friday, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review of Haiti’s performance under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement on July 20, 2012.
The Board's decision was taken on a "lapse of time basis (1)". Completion of the review will enable an immediate disbursement of about US$7.4 million, bringing total disbursements under the program to date to about US$46.9 million.
Haiti's ECF arrangement was approved on July 21, 2010 together with the full relief on the country’s outstanding debt to the Fund, equivalent to US$268 million.
The debt relief, financed by the PCDR Trust Fund and IMF financing are part of a broad international strategy to support Haiti’s longer-term economic reconstruction plans, following the earthquake of January 12, 2010.
(1) The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.
HL/ HaitiLibre
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Paix sur la terre!
"Peace on earth, goodwill to men" by Casting Crowns. (Lien sonore et paroles @ "Sérénade au clair de moun" http://www.moun.com/forum4/forum_posts.asp?TID=7004&PN=1&TPN =149)
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Calado
Newbie
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: Belgium
Posts: 16
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| Posted: 2012 July 24 at 8:34am
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CARIBBEAN
Miami Herald
Posted on Monday, 07.23.12
A new day in Haiti
BY AMBASSADOR KENNETH MERTEN
BY AMBASSADOR KENNETH MERTEN
I’ve had the pleasure of spending three tours in Haiti. My first was in 1988, when the State Department assigned me here as a junior officer. I have since returned to the embassy in 1998 focusing on the economic and commercial sectors and in 2009 to serve as ambassador. Over the course of my 25 years working on Haiti, I accompanied the Haitian people through an earthquake, a major humanitarian relief mission, three coups d’état, two hurricanes, one embargo and at least four elections. When I returned as ambassador, I spoke with Haitians about the importance of respect, partnership and responsibility — all central to the United States’ relationship with Haiti. I shared how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made Haiti a foreign-policy priority at the outset of her term and about our commitment to help the Haitian people and government realize their vision of a more prosperous country. I also spoke of the U.S. commitment to a new, and fundamentally different, approach that we would be taking. In the past, our assistance did not always yield sustainable results, but moving forward we would shift from aid to investment — from what America can do to what the Haitian people want their partners, like America, to do, which is critical for Haiti to thrive. For months we worked closely with the government to devise a strategy for the bulk of our developmental assistance to go to four priority sectors: agriculture, governance and the rule of law, infrastructure, and health. We have leveraged the unique capabilities of U.S. government agencies and are working as one team to dramatically improve results. We are training Haitian police officers, helping increase agricultural productivity, building feeder roads, establishing sustainable health systems, building thousands of hurricane resistant shelters, and repairing and expanding access to electricity. These investments and programs will help Haiti build a strong foundation for future development. We know that real, transformative change in Haiti — like countries around the world — can only come through private sector investments driving job creation and providing tax revenue. This was the case on my first day as ambassador and remains true today. When people have jobs they have the dignity that comes from being able to choose how they provide for their families and the freedom to make their own choices. When the government has more revenue, it can fund better schools, hospitals, and roads, and police officers to keep Haiti’s streets safe. President Martelly has made economic development — inside and outside Port-au-Prince — a priority. As I leave Haiti, I am encouraged. Haiti has reported a 21-percent increase in foreign direct investment since 2010. In the north, I saw the completion of the first factory buildings and modern power plant at the Caracol Industrial Park. There is palpable enthusiasm in the community for the jobs this park will bring, adding more factories over the coming months and years. Anchored by a $78 million investment from Korean apparel manufacturer Sae-A Co., Ltd., the park has the potential to create more than 60,000 jobs. Its second tenant, Haitian paint company Peintures Caraibes, just signed a lease that will allow it to expand operations by opening a second factory that will ultimately create hundreds of jobs. But, the park is only part of the development across the northern corridor. Investments in agriculture and reliable electricity, the construction of a new port, schools, health clinics, and hospitals will fuel additional investments and open new domestic and foreign markets to farmers. I am proud that the work we have done, and continue to do, helps Haitians build a stronger foundation for a prosperous future. My time as ambassador has given me a front row seat to history and has allowed me to be a part of a new chapter in Haiti’s story. I will not think of Haiti as a country that faced unimaginable devastation, but rather as a nation of vibrant, proud, hard-working and courageous people who faced adversity and kept climbing. It is a nation with a bright future. I look forward to the day when Haiti is independent of development assistance and can join us in helping other developing nations. When that day comes we will know that Haiti’s dreams for its future have come true. |
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Marina
Senior Member
Joined: 2005 May 25
Location: Haiti
Posts: 126
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| Posted: 2012 July 25 at 5:29pm
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Cité Soleil 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBALh-qLn_s&feature=youtu .be
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Money
Groupie
Joined: 2010 July 11
Location: Haiti
Posts: 74
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| Posted: 2012 Aug 01 at 11:08pm
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Tous se demandent si Martelly ne va pas finir comme ses prédécesseurs qui se retrouvent en exil après avoir été renversés. Le peuple haïtien en le préférant à Mirlande Manigat a voulu un nouvel acteur pour un nouveau départ. Et si Michel Martelly veut inscrire son nom en lettres d’or dans les annales de l’histoire d’Haïti il doit savoir manier ce pain qu’il a sur la planche.
Michel Martelly, président haïtien à RFI: «Je me suis concentré sur les réalisations possibles et j’ai fait de mon mieux»
 Le président haïtien Michel Martelly au micro de notre consoeur, Amélie Baron. Amélie Baron / RFI
Michel Martelly, l'ancienne star de la chanson est président de Haïti depuis mai 2011. Alors, dans ce pays meurtri par le terrible séisme de janvier 2010, comment l'homme voit-il l'évolution de la situation ? Education, reconstruction, santé, politique, économie... Amélie Baron, correspondante de RFI à Port-au-Prince lui a demandé quel bilan il tirait de sa première année à la tête de l'Etat.
Michel Martelly: Pour moi tout s’est bien passé, j’ai beaucoup apprécié. J’ai beaucoup appris et j’ai aussi beaucoup fait ; aujourd’hui plusieurs millions d’enfants dans le pays vont à l’école. Est-ce qu’il y a des problèmes ? C’est certain. C’est la première fois qu’un million
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12/05/2012
par Amélie Baron |
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d’enfants va à l’école gratuitement, donc nous avons des problèmes pour pouvoir identifier les professeurs et où ils se trouvent. Un ministère de l’Education qui n’avait pas cette charge se trouve aujourd'hui devant le fait accompli. Il y a un retard dans le décaissement, dans le paiement. Donc, oui, il y a des problèmes mais aujourd’hui, plus d’un million d’enfants à l’école gratuitement, c’était mon vœu le plus cher. On avance à ce niveau. RFI : Vous êtes arrivé au pouvoir il y a un an, vous n’aviez pas de majorité parlementaire. Cela a été compliqué au début de dialoguer avec le pouvoir législatif, il vous a fallu longtemps pour avoir un gouvernement à vos côtés. Comment réagissez-vous avec cette expérience douloureuse qu’a été le début de votre mandat avec le pouvoir législatif ? MM : J’apprends, je continue d’apprendre et jusqu’à présent ce n’est pas facile. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui, au moment où je vous parle, nous avons ratifié mon Premier ministre avec son gouvernement aux trois-quarts. Il reste une dernière étape à passer pour recommencer avec un gouvernement légitime et continuer à travailler. L’essentiel c’est que nous avons grandi, mûri, nous comprenons l’importance de cette remise à plat pour faire ensemble ce que nous avons promis à la population. Il ne s’agit pas d’être compliqué, d’aimer ou de ne pas aimer un parlementaire, d’aimer ou de ne pas aimer un président, il s’agit de se mettre ensemble pour apporter à la population ce que nous lui avons promis. Dans ce sens, je fais de mon mieux et je crois que malgré les problèmes de cette première année, le bilan reste positif, et c’est cela la chose la plus intéressante. RFI : Vous avez à votre actif la mise en place et l’avancement du programme« 16-6 ». Il a permis l’évacuation de seize camps ainsi qu'une réhabilitation en six quartiers. Pourtant, nous constatons que beaucoup de constructions anarchiques continuent au nord de Port-au-Prince ou sur les Mornes. Quelles mesures pouvez-vous prendre pour lutter contre l’aggravation de l’urbanisation massive de Port-au-Prince ? MM : Les institutions restent faibles. Quand j’ai nommé un président à la Cour de cassation c’était pour remettre sur pied cette justice. J’ai nommé tous les juges à la Cour de cassation ; c’est pour lui rendre son indépendance, lui permettre de devenir forte. Elle ne l'est pas encore aujourd’hui. C’est encore difficile d’empêcher un citoyen de construire sa maison dans les ravines, chose qui met sa vie en péril. L’Etat n’a pas toujours les moyens de sa politique. Est-ce que parfois les bandits sont libérés et les policiers arrêtés ? Vous savez, il y a un système qui avait été mis en place, mais n’était peut être pas le meilleur et aujourd’hui nous en payons les conséquences. Et cela va durer. L’idée sur laquelle il faut jouer, c’est que le changement commence. Et changer, ça va prendre du temps. Pas la peine de parler de ces constructions, nous pouvons parler de l’eau potable qui reste un problème. RFI : Justement les Nations unies s’inquiètent pour l’année à venir. En ce qui concerne le choléra, elles parlent de potentiellement 250 000 nouveaux cas de choléra. Comment comptez-vous renforcer le système de santé ? MM : 250 000 cas de choléra, cela me paraît pratiquement irréel. Pourquoi ? Parce que, bien sûr, vous savez qu’avec l’eau, la pluie, la saison pluvieuse, nous avons enregistré certains cas. Mais comparé à ce que nous avons vécu il y a un an, je dirais que la situation s’améliore et que, d’après les dernières nouvelles que j’ai, je ne suis même pas au courant de cas de morts de choléra. Il y a eu une petite remontée, les traitements sont là, les gens s’en sortent, cela a l’air d’aller. RFI : Quand vous êtes arrivé au pouvoir vous vous êtes présenté pour le changement et vous avez appelé à la réconciliation nationale. Vous avez d’ailleurs pris comme initiative de rencontrer vos prédécesseurs, notamment Jean-Claude Duvalier. L’ancien président à vie fait l’objet de plaintes pour crimes contre l’humanité, qu’est ce que vous répondez aux inquiétudes des personnes qui ont été victimes du duvaliérisme ? MM : Le rôle du président est de s’assurer que les institutions soient fortes. Je viens de vous dire qu’elles sont faibles, et quant à la situation de monsieur Duvalier, c’est à la justice de se prononcer. Sur son cas, je n’ai pratiquement rien à dire. Tout comme j’ai peut-être des amis qui sont en prison, c’est à la justice de se prononcer. Je n’ai rien à dire là-dessus. RFI : Qu'est-il ressorti des rencontres avec les différents présidents, dont Jean-Claude Duvalier, mais aussi Jean-Bertrand Aristide et René Préval votre prédécesseur ? MM : Je dirais que les rencontres ont été très cordiales. J’ai ressenti chez chacun d’eux la volonté de rester au pays, de vivre, de vivre en paix, de s’impliquer pour continuer à aider Haïti. Mais je dois être honnête, j’ai un peu lâché cette initiative du fait que j’ai été attaqué de partout. On a fait croire qu’il y avait un bras de fer entre le président et la presse, qu’il y avait un problème entre le président et le Parlement. Ce que j’ai fait, c'est que je me suis concentré sur les réalisations possibles et j’ai fait de mon mieux pendant tout ce temps. Peut-être que je vais recommencer avec cette initiative, justement parce que je veux croire que si j’ai pu faire seul tout cela en un an, avec plus de monde, avec ces différents secteurs à mes côtés, peut-être que nous aurions fait trois fois cela. RFI : Votre leitmotiv est « Haïti est ouverte pour les affaires », mais Haïti reste très mal classée. Selon les économistes le pays n’est pas encore assez compétitif. Comment résoudre le problème parce qu’il y a besoin d’emplois dans le pays? MM : Il y a toujours des déclarations faites par-ci, par-là. Il y a toujours des gens qui voient de manière différente. A Haïti, d’après ce que vous venez de me dire, c’est difficile. Pourtant, Denis O’Brien a du succès avec la Digicel. A Haïti, c’est difficile. Et pourtant le Mariott arrive à peine en Haïti. A Haïti, c’est difficile, mais Heineken vient d’acheter une brasserie en Haïti et des compagnies se battent pour des contrats pour l’énergie en Haïti. Haïti a tendance à être au bas de la page mais il y a de bonnes choses qui se passent. Tout comme vous me parlez de choléra, vous me parlez de problèmes, de classement, on peut parler de l’eau potable qui reste un problème, de l’assainissement... mais il y a aussi de bonnes nouvelles et nous ne pouvons pas tout faire en un jour. D’ailleurs, si un président arrive au pouvoir en Haïti, croyant pouvoir tout changer, il se perd dès le premier jour. L’idée, c’est de se fixer quatre objectifs et puis de se pencher sur ces secteurs bien précis. A part cela, tout est encore à faire. Ainsi, l’idée est de rester bien concentré, d’avoir un objectif en tête et de l’atteindre.
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