Some of the local assembly of Palm Apparel, maker of cotton T-shirts in the neighborhood of Carrefour, have taken the shock. The workshop is plunged into a silence of a cathedral. Chains of sewing machines are bathed in shadow. Outside, the shovels digging the rubble of the collapsed area of the plant. Dead bodies are still trapped in the debris. About 500 to 1 500 workers died in the collapse of the building of three floors.
In the dusty courtyard, Alain Vilard, CEO, talks with the envoy Gicdon, the Canadian company that places orders for the brand Fruit of the Loom. “We can restart production in a month. The port is destroyed but the goods can go by road to the Dominican Republic, “says he. The Canadian tick a bit. The price of transport will increase and its profit margin decline. “If we get bank loans without interest we will try to move forward. The dream would be to rebuild the factory here in Carrefour in this city that so desperately needs jobs, “commented Alain Vilard.
“Maybe an opportunity”
Three weeks after the earthquake, private operators are, like most Haitians, perplexed. What the future holds? On what basis again? The questions go beyond the organizational difficulties. They are political, social, existential. Why bother staying on an island subscribes to the mess? How to get the country out of the rut then only twenty years of development under international infusion did not reduce the misery and chaos? “Haiti was a country that does not work. It repeated that it was right the wrongs, but, with this disaster radical is a new company that is building, “said Jean-Claude Bajeux, a former Minister of Culture.
The old intellectual moved with his wife, Sylvie, in the tropical garden of his villa, which adjacent to a slum. Young volunteers camped in the neighborhood trees. “There may be an opportunity for those who think they can offer an alternative to the post-colonial society. It is time to accept the laws to take the bus development, “says the man, rather cynical, known for his critical sense. “If there was no original answer, postséisme crisis will exacerbate the social crisis that has existed since time immemorial. We must learn to share our space and our wealth, “insists Auguste D’Meza, a university professor.
The word “reconstruction” occurs in all conversations. Some believe it is inappropriate, because everything is built in Port-au-Prince. They speak of 2010 as a year zero. This is true in the areas of education, health or justice. Constructed with a cement containing sand, almost all schools have fallen. Many hospitals and courthouses were in ruins. The relocation of one million homeless will be a long and difficult. The survivors will languish for years in makeshift housing. They depend indefinitely on international aid. As for the exodus to the countryside, it is probably only temporary. Lack of livelihood in remote areas and disadvantaged, the displaced will be tempted to return to the metropolis or to venture into illegal immigration.
Those with foreign passports are already beyond borders. “The danger in three to six months to a massive leak episode,” worries Jean Guy Christmas, a young businessman. Like all great citizens, he sent his children and his wife in Miami. Boss of a company funds transfer, he remained on site to restart the economic machine. Its institutions were quickly reopened thanks to a funding boost from Washington. “Hopefully we’ll get out by putting together and finally decentralizing ‘says he.
“We do not like Haiti”
But rumors began to swell. The decongestion of the capital would aim behind the scenes to prepare speculative. The departure of the inhabitants in the province serve the landlords eager to grab the center of the devastated city. “Our problem is we do not like Haiti, launching Peter Mathias, head of a company of electronic engineering and vice president of the Chamber of Commerce in Port-au-Prince. The poor try to leave, members of the middle classes who have degrees have already left and the rich make money here to spend in the United States. “Alone in his office high-tech deserted by its employees, it evokes course of his black child born in a slum. He only succeeds through education. Peter Mathias says, like many, it is essential to build new foundations. “We must rethink everything, have a sense of community and especially to create an environment for learning to produce wealth,” repeated him. Without cherishing any illusions.
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