Posted on 10/28/2010 10:23:50 AM PDT by Libloather
Haiti’s Latest Misery
Published: October 26, 2010
The cholera outbreak in Haiti — the first in 50 years — has layered fresh anxiety atop long-standing misery. By Tuesday the disease had sickened more than 3,000 people and killed more than 250. While the authorities have expressed cautious hope that the outbreak might soon stabilize and remain largely confined to the rural Artibonite region, there is still fear that the disease could overwhelm the shattered capital, Port-au-Prince.
**SNIP**
More than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless by the quake, and more than 1.3 million remain homeless today. Thousands of people live in semi-sturdy “transitional” shelters, but there is still no new permanent housing to speak of. Tens of thousands of displaced people squatting on private land are in danger of eviction or have already been forced to move. Only a fraction of quake rubble has been cleared.
The government of President René Préval still has not made many of the most basic decisions, including where to build new housing, and whether and how it will exercise its powers of eminent domain.
The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, headed by Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former President Bill Clinton, is supposed to bring coordination, efficiency and transparency to the rebuilding. It has met only three times and is still not fully staffed. At its most recent meeting on Oct. 6 — actually a conference call — the commission was still voting on changes to its bylaws.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So ... no progress then.
Really, though ... since Bill put himself on the campaign circuit, shouldn't at least ONE newsie ask him why things are so completely fouled up?
Bill Clinton cares about one thing and one thing only....Bill Clinton.
There will be blood.
L
Haiti is hopeless until real free market reforms are put into place. Right now, free market reforms are far more important than democracy. They also need to open up the country to outside investment. Currently, outsiders are highly restricted on where and how they can invest. Without those bans being lifted, Haiti will remain a hopeless hell hole — despite the fact that it could be a resort paradise.
Clinton gave Aristide a check from our government for several hundred million dollars ostensibly to rebuild the Haitian electric grid. Aristide pocketed the total amount and bought the largest private estate in the Caribbean.
The outrageous notion that Clinton is a fan of Haiti is criminal. He is the most hated man in Haiti among Haitians.
You would think so but Haiti is sooooo yesterday's news. We need to move on.
If Poland can repay it’s foreign aid that it got from the US, if China can pick itself up, if Chile can get its miners out in sixty days, I am quite sure that Haiti, with rich farmland and huge amounts of aid, should be able to pick itself up.
Not true. Good feelings in are abundance in elite circles, pesky contributions have been redirected to friends of the corrupt elite, millions of ignorant peasants are living in unending squalor, and more money is being demanded to help the children.
The very definition of Democrat "Mission Accomplished" in any country has been achieved.
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