Haiti mayor says he plans to clear huge quake camp

Haiti mayor says he plans to clear huge quake camp

By TRENTON DANIEL
The Associated Press


Thousands of Haitians living in one of the biggest tent camps created after last year's earthquake could soon have a new home: the mountains north of Port-au-Prince.

City officials plan to relocate the almost 20,000 people living on the 42-acre (17-hectare) Champs de Mars plaza across the street from the crumbled National Palace if the central government approves, Port-au-Prince Mayor Jean Yves Jason said Wednesday.

Patrick Rouzier, a housing and reconstruction adviser for the government, acknowledged the plan in a text message. He said Jason wants to move the families to Morne Cabrit, a mountain north of the capital, and house them in temporary shelters.

The government has reservations about the approach, Rouzier added, but he did not elaborate. He said he was traveling with President Michel Martelly.

Jason cited an "act of banditry" in the public square as a reason for officials wanting to clear away the camp, which has become a shantytown complete with barber shops, boutiques and restaurants and is a symbol of Haiti's post-quake misery.

"We are going to respond next week," Jason told The Associated Press.

About 20 students have been burning tires at the plaza in recent days in a call for justice after a fellow student was shot and wounded during a robbery for his laptop computer.

Jason said officials are figuring out a plan to compensate the camp residents but didn't answer questions asking how much they would get.

The planned closure comes as Haitian authorities have been criticized for not doing enough to provide housing as they try to move the homeless out of public and private spaces.

Last week, about 60 to 80 demonstrators shut down traffic on a busy thoroughfare to protest efforts to relocate them from a private lot. They said the $125 tat authorities offered to families was insufficient to secure housing.

Martelly said last month that he opposes forced removals.

More than 630,000 people still don't have shelter 19 months after the January 2010 quake, the International Organization for Migration says.

The relief group released a report last week saying that 94 percent of camp residents would leave if they had alternative housing. Most of those surveyed said they wouldn't be able to pay for rent or house repairs if they had to leave immediately.

The Martelly administration wants to close camps in six public places and move the residents into 16 redeveloped neighborhoods, a project the international community supports. The World Bank-run Haitian Reconstruction Fund agreed last month to set aside $30 million for the project pending the submission of a complete proposal.





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This is the reason why I like an article published in the daily newspaper "Le nouvelliste"in which the author asked the question:"Quelle ecole pour quelle societe"Here we have a situation where 630.000 haitians are living in poor conditions un tent camps and the government can not do anything to alleviate their sufferings almost two years after the earthquake.The country has an unemployement rate of more than 65%;why can't all these unemployed haitians be hired to build houses throughout the country?This reminds me also of what Dr lominy wrote :In a country where there is so much to be done why do we have such a high unemployement rate.?"

This is also related to the question asked By Dr boyer :What is the purpose of political economy.(A quoi sert l'economie politique).here we have a tragedy and nothing can be done in spite of the good will of the international community.I think it is time to think seriously about the schools system in haiti.What type of citizens do we need? a group of jacko repet " who can not do anything with their hands or cirtizens who can build schools, houses, hospitals,roads,ports and airports etc ;citizens who can plow the land to produce food and all the goods they need.Citizens who can work in the mines to exploit our natural ressources.We need more vocational schools in haiti.The model of curriculum we have in our Lycees doesn't correspond to the needs of the country.

I remember what President Obama said recently:"We need people who can produce and build goods and services ."Indeed these are the people a country needs,not a bunch of perrots who can cite what other people wrote in France long time ago to show that they are educated.It is time to change lekol tet an ba saa nan yon peyi tet an ba saa.

He said Jason wants to move the families to Morne Cabrit, a mountain north of the capital, and house them in temporary shelters.

Mezanmi, desantralizasyon nesesè lan peyi a, men pran yon bann moun lavil oubyen
bidonvil epi al lage yo môn Kabrit se yon bagay ki di wi.

Eske yo pral mete enfrastrikti pou moun yo siviv e pwogrese e devlope rejyon ki vinn tounen lakay yo?

Eske moun sayo genyen vokasyon riral oubyen agrikol pou yo ta komanse yon kominote otonôm?

Eske lage yo lan kondisyon san preparasyon pa pi mal pase rete anba tant yo oubyen se deberase Channmas e pi kite sak pase pase?

Menm si moun yo tounen al bati yon lot site soley?