Konbit Pou Ayiti

IN THIS REPORT:

- Haitian soccer great Sanon dies at 56
- American Airlines Says it did All it Could to Save Passenger's Life
- Possible Free Trade Agreement Between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2009
- Canadian Foreign Minister Highlights $555 million in Aid at end of his Visit
- Canadian Aid Worker Accused of Sex Crimes in Les Cayes
- Canadian Government will Fund Road Between Les Cayes and Jeremie
- Reforestation in Haiti Faces Challenges Due to Extreme Poverty
- OAS Mission Notes Improved Security
- OAS urges border cooperation between Haiti and Dominican Republic
- IDB financing one-to-one computing project in Haiti
- Mobs attacked two suspected kidnappers in Haiti's capital
- Royal Caribbean To Build Pier in Labadee

Haitian soccer great Sanon dies at 56:
Emmanuel Sanon, one of Haiti's most celebrated soccer players, died in his sleep from pancreatic cancer Thursday morning, family members said. The Orlando resident was 56. Sanon -- affectionately known as Manno is best known among Haitians and soccer enthusiasts for his goal against Italian Dino Zoff in the 1974 World Cup match. Haiti would lose 3-1 but that didn't matter: The striker's goal marked the end of Zoff's record 1,143 goalless minutes. Every Haitian knew where they were that day. ''When Manno scored that game, there was an eruption of joy,'' recalled radio commentator Herntz Phanord, who watched the game in a crowded movie house in New York. ``We didn't want anything to spoil that moment.'' Funeral arrangements are being planned in Orlando. (Miami Herald, 2/23)

American Airlines Says it did All it Could to Save Passenger's Life:
American Airlines on Monday insisted it tried to help a passenger who died after complaining she could not breathe, and disputed the account of a relative who said that she was denied oxygen and that medical devices failed. The airline said the oxygen tanks and a defibrillator on the flight from Haiti were working and noted that several medical professionals on the flight, including a doctor, tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, 44, who had heart disease. "American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well," airline spokesman Charley Wilson said Monday.

Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight home from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after she ate a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother, Joel Desir. A flight attendant gave her water, he said. A few minutes later, Desir said she was having "trouble breathing" and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said. "Don't let me die," he recalled her saying. He said other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, and the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty. Oliver said two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty. Desir was placed on the floor, and a nurse tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Oliver said. A defibrillator, which he called a "box," also was applied but did not function effectively, he said. Oliver said he then asked for the plane to "land right away so I can get her to a hospital," and the pilot agreed to divert to Miami, 45 minutes away. But during that time Desir collapsed and died, Oliver said. "Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe,'" he said.

There were 12 oxygen tanks on the plane and the crew checked them before the flight took off to make sure they were working, Wilson said. He said at least two were used on Desir. The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial flights to carry no fewer than two oxygen dispensers. The main goal of the rule is to have oxygen available in the event of a rapid cabin decompression, but it can also be used for other emergencies. It is up to the airlines to maintain the canisters. Flight attendants are trained not to automatically give oxygen to every passenger who requests it but instead use airline criteria to judge when it's needed, said Leslie Mayo, a spokeswoman for the union representing American's attendants.

Wilson said Desir's cousin flagged down a flight attendant and said the woman had diabetes and needed oxygen. "The flight attendant responded, 'OK, but we usually don't need to treat diabetes with oxygen, but let me check anyway and get back to you.'" Wilson said the employee spoke with another flight attendant, and both went to Desir within one to three minutes. "By that time the situation was worsening, and they immediately began administering oxygen," he said. Wilson said the defibrillator was used but that the machine indicated Desir's heartbeat was too weak to activate the unit. An automated external defibrillator delivers an electric shock to try to restore a normal heart rhythm if a a particular type of irregular heart beat is detected. The machines cannot help in all cases. Wilson said three flight attendants helped Desir, but "stepped back" after doctors and nurses on the flight began to help her. "Our crew acted very admirably. They did what they were trained to do, and the equipment was working," he said.

Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued to John F. Kennedy International Airport, without stopping in Miami. The woman's body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Oliver said. Desir died of complications from heart disease and diabetes, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. Shulkin, through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, declined to comment on the incident. FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the agency was closely following the details of the incident. (AP, 2/25)

Possible Free Trade Agreement Between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2009:
The possibility that Dominican Republic and Haiti could sign a free trade agreement as early as next year is being met with approval by commercial, governmental and industrial sectors, as well as economists and poultry producers, newspaper El Caribe said Sunday. The National Council for Private Enterprise (Conep), the Association of Young Business Leaders, Secretary of Industry and Commerce Melanio Paredes, the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI), economist Hugo Rivera and the Association of Poultry Producers of the North, agree that the negotiation process would yield positive results, but that the idea merits deep study. Lisando Macarrulla, president of Conep, said Haiti as a market has great importance for Dominican Republic and presents the advantage of being accessible by overland routes. However, he suggested analyzing the agreements established by the European Economic Community and Caricom with respect to Haiti because “we would have to consider aspects beyond the purely commercial,” he said.

Paredes said the countries of the European Union have always connected the economic destinies of Haiti and Dominican Republic and at times have expected this country to do more for the other than what they were able to. “Any initiative undertaken as an island would formalize our commercial relations, which surpass US$700 million, and would help with the disappearance of cartels, spurious mechanisms and other elements characteristic of informal commerce.” Pablo Piantini, president of Anje, said each country would have to come to the negotiating table, defend their products, and define appropriate parameters for the phasing out of tariffs. He added, “An agreement with [Haiti] would be better than with the European Union, even with its additional 25 countries.” FAI president Ignacio Méndez agreed, saying Dominican Republic had an obligation to sign an agreement with Haiti before any other nation due to the nature of their commerce. (Dominican Today, 2/25)

Canadian Foreign Minister Highlights $555 million in Aid at end of his Visit:
Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier highlighted $555 million in aid to Haiti on Friday, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the impoverished Caribbean nation. The funds, to be paid between 2006-2011, were earmarked to help build roads, police precincts and implement social and economic programs in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, Bernier told reporters. "Compared to other donor countries, our assistance to Haiti is one of the biggest per capita contributions," he said. "We are proud to be able to help Haiti because we have in Quebec a Haitian community that has brought so much to Canada," said Bernier, adding that Canada will act according to aid priorities set by Haitian authorities. (Reuters, 2/24)

Canadian Aid Worker Accused of Sex Crimes in Les Cayes:
The man who some liked to call "Quebec's Father Teresa" for his work with underprivileged children was arrested yesterday and charged with sexually touching young boys while working in an orphanage in poverty-stricken Haiti. Armand Huard, 64, appeared briefly in a Quebec City court yesterday to face 13 counts of sexually touching minors or inciting them to sexually touch him while working at the orphanage in the city of Les Cayes, 200 kilometres from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Another aid worker, Denis Rochefort, 59, was charged with 10 similar offences. Mr. Huard had done humanitarian work in Haiti for 12 years. When violence erupted in 2004, he barely got out alive after being stricken with malaria, but was anxious to return. "I'll wait for the right moment to go back because I still have things to do there, because Haiti for me is almost like my country," he said in a Radio-Canada interview in 2004.

Mr. Huard, whom children referred to as "Papi," recently left his position as a substitute director of the orphanage where 75 young people lived. He returned to Quebec, but travelled frequently to Haiti, where he worked with schools and offered family support. Mr. Huard and his co-worker, Mr. Rochefort, who were arrested in Quebec, have yet to file a plea after being formally charged yesterday. If they go to trial, some of the alleged victims may be asked to testify in court or by video-conference from Haiti, Crown prosecutor Carmen Rioux said.

The two aid workers were accused of sex crimes against 10 teenagers between December, 2006, and March, 2007, after an investigation launched a year ago by the Haitian police in co-operation with the United Nations peace mission in that country, headed by the RCMP. The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police, were recruited to dig deeper into the allegations, and an investigator met with the alleged victims last September. "People who travel abroad and commit sex crimes against minors have to realize that when they come home they can't escape justice," SQ spokeswoman Ann Mathieu said. "If there are complaints and there is enough evidence to bring them to court, they will be charged." The two men will be back in court today for a bail hearing. If convicted they face a minimum of 45 days and a maximum of ten years in jail. (Globe and Mail, 2/21)

Canadian Government will Fund Road Between Les Cayes and Jeremie:
Haiti is set to move its road reconstruction programme further along with a CAD$75 million (US$74 million) grant from the Canadian government. The project, which will be implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will expand a programme to improve and maintain 146 kilometres of primary roads and 250 kilometres of rural roads in Haiti's southern peninsula. Canada's contribution will finance the reconstruction of a 92-kilometre road between the cities of Les Cayes and Jérémie.

The IDB is expected to contribute US$100 million over a four-year period to the program, which will boost regional economic and social development by linking areas of Haiti that are virtually isolated from the rest of the country. Canada's Minister for International Cooperation, Beverly Oda who made the announcement also indicated that additional grants totaling nearly CAD$50 million (US$49 million) for other projects involving education, healthcare for mothers and disaster prevention, would be forthcoming. "Canada is helping to provide Haitians the services they need immediately and creating the conditions for long-term success and prosperity," she said. (Caribbean360.com, 2/21)

Reforestation in Haiti Faces Challenges Due to Extreme Poverty:
Far from the spreading slums of the Haitian capital, past barren dirt mountains and hillsides stripped to a chalky white core, two woodcutters bring down a towering oak tree in one of the few forested valleys left in the Caribbean country. Fanel Cantave, 36, says he has little choice but to make his living in a way that is causing environmental disaster in Haiti. And these days, he and his 15-year-old son, Phillipe, must travel ever farther from their village to find trees to cut.

"There is no other way to get money," the father said, pushing his saw through splintering wood that will earn him as much as $12.50, depending on how many planks it produces. Such raw economics explain the disappearance of Haiti's forests, a process that has led to erosion that has reduced scarce farm land and left the island vulnerable to deadly flooding. U.N. experts say just 2 to 4 percent of forest cover remains in Haiti, down from 7 to 9 percent in 1981. And despite millions invested in reforestation, such efforts have mostly failed because of economic pressures and political turmoil. For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development embarked on an ambitious $22.8 million project in the 1980s to plant some 30 million trees that could provide income for peasants. But the project focused on trees that can be made into charcoal for cooking, and nearly all were eventually cut down.

Environmental Minister Jean-Marie Claude Germain said reforestation projects and efforts to preserve trees in three protected zones were set back by the violent rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and prompted the U.N. to send in thousands of peacekeepers to restore order. "Even though there were agricultural laws, the laws were not respected," Germain said. "We are trying to create order now."

Some groups say they've found success on a limited scale by planting fruit trees and protecting hardwoods through micro-loans and agricultural assistance. Floresta USA, based in San Diego, has been working in Haiti for the last decade and is now planting about 33,000 fruit and hardwood trees a year. The Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment, based in southern Haiti, has produced more than a million fruit trees since it began work in 1985.

Compared to the USAID's failed plan, smaller programs have had more luck by focusing on fruit trees, which farmers are more likely to preserve to sell the fruit. And smaller organizations are able to work with individual farmers and tailor planting to the needs of specific areas. "People aren't excited about, 'Hey let's go plant trees.' They're excited about, 'How can I feed my family? How can I make ends meet?'" said Scott Sabin, executive director of Floresta.

But many who are dedicated to restoring Haiti's forests have grown pessimistic. Despite small successes, prospects are grim for implementing such programs on a grand scale. "Everything has been studied and all the solutions are already known," said Mousson Finnigan, the head of the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment. "But when it comes to implementation, it becomes a place where everybody's fighting for the money. They're not fighting for results."

Christopher Columbus found dense tropical forests in 1492 when he arrived on the island colonizers named Hispaniola, now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But the trees began falling quickly, first as the Spanish and French cleared forests for plantations and later as hardwoods were logged for U.S. and European markets. Peasants then burned and cut down what was left in desperate search of farmland. While the Dominican Republic still has some of the most impressive forests in the Caribbean, parts of Haiti now resemble a moonscape of denuded mountains billowing dust. Hillsides are blasted away to make bricks for the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Without trees to anchor the soil, erosion has reduced Haiti's agricultural land, making the island more vulnerable to floods each hurricane season. More than 100 Haitians died in last year's floods, including dozens killed when a river jumped its banks during a gentle but steady rain unrelated to any tropical system. And in 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne killed some 3,000 people in the coastal city of Gonaives alone.

And yet the trees keep falling. Orange fires can still be seen in the hills above the capital as farmers clear land at night. At the La Saline market, charcoal vendors arrive each day with mountains of bags, their faces coated with black dust. "In Haiti we destroy instead of produce," acknowledges LeClaire Bocage, 38, who sells 110-pound sacks for $6.25. "They're going to tell the poor to stop cutting down trees. But what will we do to make a living?"

It may be too late to restore Haiti's lost forests, said John Horton, an environmental specialist who has overseen Haiti projects for the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank. He suggested planting crops that can stabilize the soil and be sold or used for bio-fuels. Others promote raising money through carbon credits from overseas firms emitting greenhouse gases elsewhere. "They need cash crops, they need food, they need energy immediately," Horton said. (AP, 2/18)

OAS Mission Notes Improved Security:
Guyana's government may be grappling with a spate of murder and mayhem in the South American nation but Haiti is getting good marks for improved security. An Organization of American States delegation, which completed high-level meetings and onsite visits to projects in Haiti on Feb. 17th, has expressed optimism about the country's improved security climate. Referring to expressions of fear in the past, Ambassador Cornelius A. Smith, the OAS Permanent Council Chairman and Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to the OAS, who headed up the mission to Haiti, noted that the OAS delegation saw "real signs that it is becoming a little more stable." Smith said this improved security climate stems from, among other things, institutional assistance in training police officers; the increase in the ranks of the police force and "an overall sense of security being established through the international agencies." The optimism was reaffirmed after Friday`s visit to Cité Soleil, where the OAS team observed positive developments despite poverty challenges. Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, for his part, commented on the sense that the society has now moved to an "acceptable level" of security in the country. And he was emphatic that "we absolutely do not agree with the assessment of a major magazine in the United States which puts Haiti as the fourth most dangerous country in the world." This is "not a statement which we can support on the basis of our experience," added the ambassador. Haiti remains on the US' travel advisory list, which warns about frequent kidnappings of Americans for ransom there. (CaribWorldNews.com, 2/19)

OAS urges border cooperation between Haiti and Dominican Republic:
Ambassador Albert Ramdin, the Organization of American States (OAS) Assistant Secretary General, urged authorities from Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Monday to work more closely together to harmonize policies for cross-border human and trade movement. He announced that the OAS would provide support to that initiative, through the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) with funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “The challenge that we all face is the establishment of manageable, transparent and harmonized systems, procedures and mechanisms to facilitate the interactions, to take mutual advantages of the opportunities, and to enhance the lives of their people living in border communities,” Ramdin said at a Port-au-Prince forum of Haitian parliamentarians, government officials and other parties engaged in developing the Haiti-Dominican Republic border region. He suggested that cross-border cooperation emphasize the review and revision of the relevant procedures and regulations, publishing and strictly enforcing them. Increased border cooperation and transparency hold the key to combating corruption and smuggling, Ramdin added.

Among other issues, the forum is examining the Haiti-Dominican border region as an opportunity for social and economic development. On the security question, forum participants are considering an array of topics, including Haitian National Police structures and infrastructure and modernization as well as the engagement of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). They will also consider governance and local government issues in the border towns. In his remarks, Ramdin also stressed that the OAS Group of Friends of Haiti and other arrangements the organization would continue to encourage member-states and other members of the international community to increase assistance to the Haitian government so it can continue developing basic infrastructure along the border. (OAS, 2/20)

IDB financing one-to-one computing project in Haiti:
The Inter-American Development Bank and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) will finance a pilot project to test whether one-to-one computing can improve teaching and learning in schools in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. OLPC makes the XO laptop, a low-cost computer designed for children in places with poor infrastructure. The rugged machine, which uses open-source software, can be powered with car batteries, solar panels or devices such as cranks, pedals and pull-cords. The IDB will make a US$3 million grant for the pilot project, which will distribute XO laptops to some 13,200 students and 500 teachers in 60 Haitian primary schools. OLPC will contribute US$2 million to the project. "As one of the poorest countries in the world, deployment in Haiti has always been an important goal for OLPC," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. "Doing it with our long standing partner, the Inter-American Development Bank, not only makes for the best team, but also a model for other countries in the Caribbean and Latin America." Under the project, content including text books, movies, audio files and electronic documents, will be translated into Creole and applications will be developed for subjects such as reading and writing, numerical literacy and problem solving, environmental studies and social skills. (IDB, 2/20)

Mobs attacked two suspected kidnappers in Haiti's capital:
A man blamed for kidnappings in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville was pummeled with rocks and killed late Saturday by neighbors in the seaside Cite Soleil slum, said Aristide Rosemon, a Haitian police inspector who oversees the area. Witnesses told police that the man, who was thought to work for jailed gang boss Evens Jeune, reportedly fired a gun as stone-wielding residents surrounded him on a dark street. The shots caused no injuries. Vigilante justice is common in Haiti, as corruption and poor policing often lead citizens to take the law into their own hands. "The people don't believe in the justice system," Rosemon said. "Every time a gang member is arrested, he comes back." Police were not investigating Saturday's lynching, he said. The mob violence follows a fresh spate of kidnappings, with at least 38 people abducted in Haiti this year, including 15 in the first 11 days of February, U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaise said. On Sunday, U.N. and Haitian police rescued a 27-year-old suspected kidnapper from a mob in downtown Port-au-Prince, Blaise said. He said he did not know whether the suspect was still in police custody. (AP, 2/11)

Royal Caribbean To Build Pier in Labadee:
Royal Caribbean Cruises launches the world's largest cruise ship -- the 220,000-ton Genesis -- late next year, passengers traveling onboard to Labadee, Haiti, will get an added bonus: They'll no longer have to be ferried across the idyllic sea. After months of negotiations, the Haitian government and the Miami-based cruise line have signed an agreement to build an 800-foot long, $27 million pier that will allow cruise passengers easier access to the secluded beach. Haitian President René Préval's government also has agreed to extend the company's current lease of the 260-acre luscious peninsula along Haiti's north coast from the year 2026, when it was due to expire, to 2050. ''The extension of Royal Caribbean's activities here will bring us more tourists and it sends a positive statement to investors,'' said Haiti Finance Minister Daniel Dorsainvil, the government's lead negotiator on the deal.
Currently, Royal Caribbean employs about 300 workers who on cruise ship days work as bartenders, cabana boys and musicians. Hundreds of other Haitians find employment as hair braiders, folkloric dancers and artisans in an arts and crafts market. Last year about 500,000 passengers visited Labadee, and provided more than $3 million in revenue to the Haitian coffers. Passengers currently pay a $6 government ''head tax,'' which under the new agreement will be raised to $10 to help finance the pier, and used to develop Haiti's tourism market, government officials say.

While both sides still must hammer out the final details of the deal, supporters say they hope the investment will spark confidence in the country by other investors, while leading to jobs and a transformation of Haiti's northern corridor as a tourist destination once more. ''The development of the north as a destination depends on our capacity to receive the Genesis cruise ship,'' said Haiti Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour, a supporter of the deal, who has been working on a tourism master plan that includes a new airport for Cap-Haitien and new roads leading from the city to the Dominican Republic border. ``Before the end of 2010, the north will be a serious destination.'' But such a goal will take more than plans. It also takes money and commitment, say Haiti watchers. In a country often criticized for missed opportunities and its slow pace, the Royal Caribbean deal stands out because it occured over a matter of months -- rather than years.

But critics say now is the time for the government to step up, and provide among other things -- the building and maintaining the road between Cap-Haitien and Labadee Village, establishing a police presence in the village due to the growth in population and finding a way to build other excursions around the pier like making it easier for tourists to visit the historic Citadelle fortress, built by slaves. ''What they need to do is bring a big developer to the northern area and look from the sight to the Citadelle and see what can be developed. That would bring jobs to the private sector,'' said Maryse Kedar, a former Haitian tourism minister who is president of Societe Labadie Nord, known by the acronymn Solano, which runs the Labadee operation. ``This is a huge opportunity for Haiti. Now the government needs to get organize with the private sector.'' (Miami Herald, 2/15)

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