Tag: reconstruction

  • Le Grande Rue Languishes while Petionville booms

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    Le Grande Rue–the historic buisness center of Port-au-Prince

    For the first time in quite a long time, I ventured into the traditional heart of Port-au-Prince. It was a sad sight. Most of the buildings along the main street (Boulevard Jean-Jacques Dessaline or Le Grande Rue as it is commonly known) were so severely damaged that they were unusable. Vendors squatted in the shade of the porches selling their goods while sunlight streamed through the shattered building behind them. Although all the loose rubble was gone, there were few signs of the reconstruction.
    Even before the earthquake, this area was withering. The streets were a mess and never drained. The roads were blocked by traditional market vendors with stalls extending into the street. Crime had become a bad problem. Most businesses had moved to Petionville. 
    Then came the earthquake. The New York Times beautifully captured the devastation on Le Grand Rue with a  sweeping panarama. As the panorama shows, large number of the buildings collapsed or became unstable. The National Palace is only a few blocks away and also crumbled. Throughout 2010, the government talked of the need to develop a master plan to rebuild the area. President Preval imposed a moratorium on construction to ensure that all new construction would follow the master plan. But then no plan was ever approved.
    In 2011, Digicel's CEO, Dennis O'Brien stepped in to rebuild the Iron Market--a bizarre  19th Century Egyptian train station turned outdoor market. He spent $12 million to rebuild the market to make it better than it had ever been–a beautiful symbol of the rebirth of Port-au-Prince. 
    President Martelly has rescinded the construction ban, but little has been done. The market remains beautiful, but it still stands alone. It wouldn't take much of an earthquake to bring many of these crumbling buildings down on those squatting under them.
    I found my visit to the center of town to be quite striking due to the contrast with Petionville. I spend most of my time in Petionville where the traces of the earthquake are largely gone. New hotels, restaurants, and shopping complexes have sprung up all over. It is easy to believe that Haiti is better off now than before the earthquake–Petionville is booming.
    Naturally money follows money–people are building in Petionville because others are building in Petionville. Perhaps the rebirth of downtown Port-au-Prince will only start when the government begins rebuilding its home–the palace, the parliament building, and the ministries. We can only hope that this starts soon. 
     

  • It is not about the tents

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    Cite Soleil–is this really any better than a tent?: Photo by Jordon Michael Zuniga

    When journalists discuss the progress of reconstruction in Haiti, they frequently
    cite the number of people still living in tents as an indication of how much
    work is left to be done. In the New York Times recent article about housing,
    Deborah Sontag wrote:

    Two and a half years after the earthquake, despite billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, the most obvious, pressing
    need — safe, stable housing for all displaced people — remains unmet.

    She later went on to state that 390,000 people
    that were displaced by the earthquake remain homeless.

    I do not dispute that 390,000 people still live
    in tents and that they live in terrible conditions. However, at least a million
    other people live in tin shacks in places like Cite Soliel. Their living
    conditions are no better than those who live in tents plus they have to pay
    rent for their shack.

    Living conditions for Haiti’s poorest were
    terrible before the earthquake. Many people moved into camps not because they
    lost their house, but because they did not have a decent house before the
    earthquake. I strongly agree that one of Haiti’s most pressing needs is for
    safe, stable housing. I hope that this is for all of Haiti’s poor—both urban
    and rural—and not just for those living in tents.

     

  • Signs of Progress in Haiti

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    One of the greatest challenges in rebuiding Haiti is fighting the expectations. To some, the picture above is a picture of poverty. Women squatting in the street selling their meager wares surrounded by poor buildings. I fear that a lot of journalists would look at this image and see it as proof that Haiti is not being rebuilt.

    But I know that this is a great victory. I wrote of my visits to this neigborhood last March. At that point, we had just started the rubble removal. I was thrilled to see how our work had transformed the neighborhood. And that is the challenge. If your starting reference is the scene below, the picture above is a beautiful success.

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    I am guilty of having written against the idea of just rebuilding the chaos.  Now I recognize that reconstruction has to go through steps. Just removing the rubble was a huge victory. Getting the unstable houses demolished and the damaged ones repaired was another huge victory. We have to help people rebuild their lives before we can help them to build a new neighborhood.

    We are continuing to move forward. We are working with the local leaders and the mayor to build a better Delmas 32. Little by little, the bird will build its nest.

  • Haiti’s reconstruction lessons are found on the other side of the world

    I had this article published today in the Miami Herald:

    Haiti's reconstruction lessons are found on the other side of the world

    BY DANIEL O'NEIL

    WWW.IMUNITEDFORHAITI.ORG

    As I rushed relief supplies from the Pan American Development Foundation through the streets of Port-au-Prince just after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, I could not fathom how Haiti would recover from the worst humanitarian disaster in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

    Nearly a year later and on the other side of the world, I saw what could be Haiti's future.

    In October, I traveled to Indonesia with a World Bank study group to see how that country recovered after the post-Christmas 2004 tsunami, which killed in excess of 200,000 and leveled some 139,000 homes, and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, which took the lives of more than 5,700 and damaged 175,000 buildings.

    (more…)