We are at saturation point, Camille Chalmers

The executive director of the Haitian Platform to Development Alternatives (PAPDA) analyzes the key factors that brought Haiti into chaos. Interview by Mathilde Magnier.

Camille Chalmers

Quest.: Earthquake, cyclone, cholera ... The Haitians seem overwhelmed by bad luck. Should we talk about a curse?

The problems of Haiti go back to well before the earthquake. The extent of losses caused by the earthquake and other disasters, culminating in the outbreak of cholera, are in fact the result of a triple failure: that of the State, of social policy and of an economic model. The first problem is the hyper-population around the capital, Port-au-Prince. From the early twentieth century, under the influence of the U.S. which occupied Haiti at the time, the entire country was reorganized around the capital city. As a consequence whole families joined an exodus from the rural areas to the city, where economic activities were not developed to absorb them. Then, trying to turn Haiti into an exporting country, a kind of "new Taiwan of the Caribbean", Francois Duvalier focused on the development of a cutting edge industrial sector (textiles, electronics, leather), with little job creation, but at the expense of agriculture which is yet to provide an adequate livelihood to most of the population. This explains the very high rate of unemployment in the country and extreme poverty. The third point is that the Haitian state is repressive and bereft of any social policy, is indifferent to the demands of the population and has been constantly undermined by the international community during the twentieth century.

This is reflected in the acute housing problem. Originally, Port-au-Prince was built to house 250,000 people, but had more 3 million people inhabitants by the time of the earthquake! Between 2008 and 2009, there were nearly 15,000 new arrivals per month, and no program of social housing to accommodate them! The result was an unimaginable population density, people piled on top of one another, high rise buildings ... In some areas of the city before the earthquake, people slept in turns because the space was scarce.

Quest: What was the role of the international presence after 2004?

The arrival of the UN force for stability in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has exacerbated the instability and insecurity. The results have been catastrophic. There has emerged a whole series of violent incidents, including kidnappings. The drug trade has developed; as well as trafficking in arms and children. Not to mention the price surge that followed due to the impact on the cost of living. As for NGOs, there were already more than 3500 or 4000 before the earthquake - although only 400 are officially declared. But lack of coordination and communication between them and the government is at the root of the poor results of their activities. That is still the case today.

Quest: Can the election of a new government change this state of affairs?

The result of the election is still very uncertain and there are many questions. Given the unpopularity of the government candidate and the reactions aroused by the massive fraud recorded in the first round on 28 November 2010, we can expect a real insurgency if the candidate is imposed.

Quest: How has Haitian society coped with this succession of crises?

We have arrived at saturation point. Until now, the population had survived thanks to solidarity; but with the outbreak of cholera, the limits of coping have been reached. Social ties are broken. People are exhausted and believe that nothing will change. The worst is the absence of hope. We are at the bottom of the wall.

Quest: How will it be possible to get out of this impasse?

Without political will, without a plan for national dialogue, we are heading for disaster! Since the earthquake at no moment have the Haitian people been asked by the government to participate in the reconstruction of the country. Even the Haitian component of the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Commission is inactive. For me, the priority remains civic dialogue. There are so many organizations in Haiti who are courageous and doing interesting work at the local level, but fail to make the leap to a more comprehensive programme of action. What should happen now is investment not only networks of solidarity; but also in production networks that link agriculture and industry, and create employment.


Source Messages n° 653 - janvier 2011

(Google Translation from the French edited by Norman Girvan)