CARACOL, Haiti — On the first anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, in a sleepy corner of northeast Haiti far from the disaster zone, the Haitian government began the process of evicting 366 farmers from a large, fertile tract of land to clear the way for a new industrial park.
$3.75 USD per day wages? What kind of crap is that? Once again we see the Haitian people being treated like slaves. Who can support a family, buy a home or pay rent, purchase food clothing, send their children to school, etc. on $18.75 a week? The smug company representative smiles into the camera and boasts of a "cooling system" in the plant so it can't be referred to as a sweatshop. Man I wanted to slap that grin right off of his face. You can build all the industrial parks you want but if you do not pay workers a decent wage how do you expect Haiti to ever recover. Looks like the only ones who benefit from this project is the company and the banks. Once again we see the USAID sticking their nose in something and building a power plant that has the potential to wreck the environment along with the waste that will be produced by the industrial park. I think the fishermen and the priest are right when they say they fear that the waters of the bay will become polluted, the fish will die and so will their jobs. The shantytowns will spring up and another slum will be created in Haiti just outside the gates of this new industrial park.
There is nothing wrong with an industrial park as long as the proper planning has gone into the project. Planning not only for the park itself but for the community that surrounds it. Housing, sewage treatment, etc. all should have been planned with environmental impact in mind. I am going to stop my comments at this point because I am so angry about how this plant was rammed down the throats of this community all with the help of Slick Willie Clinton and his wife. Rest assured the Clintons received their big payday on this deal and countless others that have or will be started in Haiti over the next few years.
Podyab for the natives of that area. Again, wish we had a better government. People wouldn't be treating us like this if our leaders had some back bone
IADB Defends Caracol Haiti Industrial Park with Fact Sheet
Monday, 09 July 2012 16:31
WASHINGTON, D.C. (defend.ht) - In a time when the Caracol, Haiti Industrial Park project is receiving increasing criticism for its adverse environmental and labor affects in the northern region of Haiti, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), an investor of the project, responded by issuing its fact sheet.
In 2011, Haiti Grassroots Watch found substantial cause for concern with the introduction of the industrial park to the region. It cited reports that showed a fragile ecosystem of mangroves and coral reefs worth $110 million [US] per year to locals. Also, concerns of the parks location over a priority watershed, an increase in salinity in the water that would harm agriculture and a social risk of migration without zoning were all mentioned.
This New York Times (article) video shows the industrial project for being an earthquake reconstruction effort in an area far from where the January 12, 2012 earthquake occurred. It also notes the environmental concerns that locals have.
The IADB considers the Caracol Industrial Park as an "important component of the Inter-American Development Bank's efforts to support Haiti in building a vibrant economy..." In summarizing its fact sheet it noted that 78% of the country lives in poverty adding that creating jobs is the government's priority.
IADB Fact Sheet
- By the end of this year, manufacturers moving into Caracol will employ as many as 1,600 workers. By the end of 2013, 5,400. By 2020, it could host up to 37,000 workers in an area where there are no alternatives to subsistence farming and fishing—other than migrating or cutting down mangrove trees to make charcoal.
Entry-level salaries at Caracol factories will be more than three times Haiti’s per capita income of $700. Workers’ wages could eventually amount to as much as $55 million a year—more than 150 times the estimated value of the crops grown on the 240-hectare plot where the industrial park is being developed.
While the garment industry can quickly boost employment by training unskilled workers, one of the goals of the project is to attract companies active in different sectors. The Haitian government is in negotiations with a furniture manufacturer and has received expressions of interest from paint and electric cable makers as well as from call center operators.
All manufacturers in the Caracol Industrial Park will be required to comply with a framework developed by U.S. government agencies to advance and protect workers’ rights in Haiti. The framework commits companies to best practices in order to benefit from U.S. trade preferences for their exports.
The 366 people who used to farm that state-owned land have received a total $1.2 million in compensation (about $3,500 per household, or five times the Haitian per capita income). All were offered access to a nearby plot with similar characteristics that will be improved with irrigation. Those who prefer to enter a new trade will receive job training. In addition, the elderly and more socially vulnerable, such as single mothers, will receive housing assistance.
As with all the projects it finances, the IDB strives to ensure that costs do not outweigh benefits, anticipating and mitigating potential negative impacts. We are committed to addressing the challenges associated with the industrial park throughout the life of the project, so northern Haiti may be better prepared to meet its population’s needs than it is today.
During the construction phase, all of the hiring was done in the surrounding communities rather than at the site. Free transportation was provided to hundreds of workers in order to discourage the establishment of informal markets and slums outside the industrial park.
Initially, most factory workers are likely to be hired locally. If the industrial park succeeds in generating tens of thousands of jobs, it might attract more peopleto the region. In order to address an anticipated demand for housing, the U.S. government and the IDB are committed to building 2,000 new homes in surrounding communities. The units, which will be hurricane- and quake-resistant, will have running water, electricity and flush toilets.
Inside the industrial park, precautions are being taken to ensure that the water discharged by the factories is of better quality than the water taken from the aquifer. To that end, the IDB will finance a waste water treatment facility that meets high international standards.
To ensure that the industrial park will have a manageable social impact on surrounding communities, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is drafting a regional master plan for the long-term development of the region. Their recommendations will cover priority investments to address the region’s basic infrastructure and housing needs.
As part of the industrial park project, the U.S. government has also built a thermal power plant to supply electricity to Caracol’s tenants, with sufficient capacity to extend service to surrounding communities. In addition, the U.S. government is also studying how to use alternative generation resources in the area.
The IDB is providing funds to support a project backed by the Global Environmental Facility to protect the Caracol Bay and its mangrove. Local fishermen will receive outboard motors that will enable them to fish beyond the coral reef instead of the nearly depleted bay.
While the Caracol Industrial Park is a key investment for the development of northern Haiti, it is one of many projects the IDB is financing in that region. Among other operations, the IDB is financing agricultural projects totaling $200 million, with a focus on that part of the country. The IDB has committed to making $200 million in annual grants to Haiti over the next ten years to support development in agriculture, education, transportation, water and sanitation, and electricity throughout the country.
The IADB can post all the fact sheets they want to but I will not believe a word of it until I see it all come to past. The furniture plants along with the cable manufacturing plants are prime producers of toxic waste that if not properly treated will be discharged into the water system in the community and harm the eco-system. Only after the video CoolP posted which shows a USAID constructed power plant that is fueled by heavy crude oil (the most polluting grade of oil) does the IADB list in their fact sheet that there will be built eco-friendly alternative energy source power plants. I pray to God that all of this turns out right and that the Haitian people are paid a wage that they can live on not just barely survive on, that housing and infrastructure will be built in an organized and planned manner and that this industrial park will be a plus and not one great big minus for the local economy and Haiti. Past performances has not left people with a good feeling that this will be nothing more than a big business, big banking, slave wages project that will create ye another slum in Haiti and make millions of dollars for foreign companies and investors and do little to improve the quality of life for the people of Haiti. Time will tell!
