Haiti

The 12th July 2010 marked 6 months since the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean island of Haiti earlier this year. The earthquake’s epicentre, which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, was just south of the capital, Port au Prince, and levelled all but the smallest of structures, leaving an estimated 230,000 dead, 300,000 injured and a further estimated 1.3 million homeless. For those fortunate enough to have survived the initial quake, weeks of tremors that shook the already destabilised capital and further reduced buildings to piles of rubble and twisted steel followed.

Prior to “1/12”, Haiti was battling a reputation as the crime capitol of the western hemisphere, ravaged by poverty and corruption. The spectre of the ‘Tonton Macoute’ and ‘Papa Doc’ era has left its mark on the country none more so than in the city ganglands and slums that are now indiscernible amongst the tented city that has replaced the old town buildings. Areas such as Cité Soleil, which had been a UN no-go area on and off for the past decade, are typical of the lawless power that the gangs held over whole communities and local government. Aspects of the old Haiti still exist in a cluster of monuments and a few wooden houses which survived the 1842 earthquake and have now outlasted their modern neighbours.

February should have heralded parliamentary elections with a President to be elected in November, however President Rene Preval (elected May 2006) has been granted emergency authority to govern without legislature, a seemingly impossible task given that 90 percent of all government structures, including the Presidential Palace, were totally destroyed in the earthquake. His efforts to run a government from makeshift offices have been applauded by some given the situation, but whilst he continues to struggle to resurrect the government of January, the people of Port au Prince are growing increasingly sceptical of his ability. Graffiti amongst the city ruins echo the street rumours, ‘Bring back King Aristide’ and ‘Help us Obama’. Growing frustration at the international community and its lack of commitment to start spending the billions of pledged European Union and US aid threatens to boil over and overshadow any future elections, now organised for the end of November.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the Organisation of American States have pledged security and technical support to elections, aware of the need to establish some sense of political stability to reassure the international community and crucially, future investors, that Haiti isn’t going back to what it used to be and that this is an opportunity to tackle the root causes of crime and poverty.

Haiti has had a reputation for kidnapping and opportunistic crime for decades, but one of the secondary effects of the earthquake was a massive reduction, for a brief period, in violent crime. Aid workers went about their business with the biggest threat being caught in an aid stampede. However, as the aid begins to dry up and the first tranche of economic relief ends, tensions are again rising and with it the threat of kidnap and extortion.

The rainy season (May-July) has brought its own challenges to the population of Port au Prince and in particular for the tented fiefdoms that have sprung up on roundabouts and in every conceivable public space, including the football stadium (now known as ‘Stadium Village’). Encampments have so far fared well with the unpredictable downpours that regularly flood and wash away all but the sturdiest of temporary constructions, but the real challenge is ahead with the impending hurricane season.

In essence the earthquake was a ‘class-quake’ where the poorest bore the brunt of the devastation and the rich escaped relatively unscathed amongst the suburbs and on the mountain sides. Wealthy Haitians have recently again become the kidnappers target of choice going back to the norm of 7 months ago and while instances of international kidnapping, such as the two Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) staff kidnapped in March remain low, the longer the elections are delayed and the longer the wait for the aid to trickle through, the higher the risk becomes.

Six months on and the streets and intersections are bustling again with street sellers, mobile phone touts and carts bristling with salvaged girders; the rubble remains, but people now live amongst the ruins instead of in them and children scavenge amongst the debris to eke out a living from what they can find. The Haitian people are as resilient as ever and life seems to be returning to normal. The dichotomy is that for Haiti to return to ‘normal’, crime will continue to rise, fuelled by a lack of coherent governing structures, falling international confidence in the country’s leadership and therefore a lack of investment in the future. Since April incidences of crime have risen 30 percent month on month, a statistic that gives no indication of slowing as the trend returns, which seems, at this stage, inevitable. Elections, however, should be seen as the opportunity to begin the rebuild and to drum up support for international development and foreign investment to give some economic impetus to the communities that so badly need it; while the EU and US may differ on views of likely candidates, all effort should be made to hold successful elections and not add a political catastrophe on top of a natural one.

Page Group has operated in Haiti for over 4 years and is a key employer in the capital. We continue to provide high-end security for clients both in the city and elsewhere around the country whilst continuing to assist our local work force and their families.

Posted date 20-07-2010

Posted date 07-07-2010