generalspeaking

Haitian Reconstruction

Again, once again, revelations that Haiti's government is a corrupt one. A government that has no idea how it should effectively represent the best interests of the population. And mostly because it isn't quite invested in the best interests of the population at large. The elite class, that's another thing entirely; their well-being must be assured. And it is, it is. The well-stocked supermarkets are in full operation, and those who live in good neighbourhoods with well-built and expensive homes are just fine, thanks for asking.

It's dreadfully unfortunate that an already-poverty-stricken population living in an incredibly dysfunctional country with inadequate civic infrastructure and matching government inadequacy saw what government buildings it did have disintegrate in the 7.0-strength earthquake which killed hundreds of thousands of poor Haitians, leaving a million and a half homeless. But life goes on for those who were unaffected.

The international community responded with alacrity to haul the country out of the immediacy of the disaster, and pledged further support, both practical and funding-wise to ensure that all the NGOs normally invested in Haiti could continue their humanitarian work. While the government sits back and does what it has always done best; nothing useful. Rene Preval promises and the people no longer listen.

Six months after the quake, the city of Port-au-Prince and its environs still lies mostly in rubble. Heavy equipment required to haul away the mountains of destroyed buildings not being handily available, much of it has to be hauled out by people working with shovels and wheelbarrows. Providing, at least, some employment for strong young Haitian men willing to put their backs to it.

And until that rubble is removed - a gargantuan task - to clear the way for replacement government buildings and new homes nothing much will be accomplished; the housing projects that have been promised will still be somewhere in the distant future. And people are living in transitional shelters, commonly known as tents; some sturdy, others mere tarpaulins thrown hastily together for shelter.

Over a million and a half men, women and children living in poverty and squalor wholly dependent on humanitarian issues of food, medicine, clinics. How can children attend school when there are no schools? How can people work when there is no work to be had? "Shelter clusters" have their outdoor amenities with toilets share by all. Children play on the ground surrounding their shelters, full of rubble and gravel.

Women and girl children are vulnerable to predators, to rape and abduction. Lawlessness in some areas still prevail, and there is a decided lack of protection in many of the camps. There are land-right disputes holding up reconstruction as well. Along with bickering over the best designs for new shelters, and the best materials to be used for the purpose. Government authority, what is that?

There is no shelter from the incessant heat, for there are no trees to provide shelter. There is scant comfort in the shelter of tents when rains bring floods and human waste washes through the tent camps, resulting in the transmission of disease and illnesses related to squalid living conditions with inadequate hygienic conditions. And the funding the international community has pledged?

Well, aid agencies have received a portion of it. And yet there is little to show for it. It is being said by those who claim to know, who have done their homework, that aid money is being somehow swallowed up mysteriously, finding its way into personal accounts. Not, after all, reaching the dire needs of the disadvantaged but embellishing the lifestyles of the advantaged.

How quaintly traditional.

Labels: Human Rights, Political Realities, Security, Societal Failures

posted by Pieface @ Monday, July 12, 2010