Haiti's Slow Recovery

New York Times

Editorial
Published: January 8, 2012

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission was one of Haiti’s great hopes after the earthquake, a Haitian-led international partnership that would finally summon the money, will and organizational intelligence to build the country back better than before. But if you visit the commission’s Web site today, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Jan. 12 disaster, this is what you see:

“Please kindly note that the mandate of the I.H.R.C. expired on October 21, 2011. Pending a decision of the Haitian Parliament regarding the future of the institution, a team is currently dealing with day-to-day business. The (re)submission of project proposals remains closed until further notice.”

President Michel Martelly has so far failed to get Parliament’s approval to extend the mandate.

Led by former President Bill Clinton and Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti’s former prime minister, the commission was given an 18-month mission to oversee an ambitious array of rebuilding projects. It took too long to get organized and former President René Préval was more of a hindrance than a partner. A list of approved projects fills 256 pages, though few are finished or fully financed.

Still, Haitians have seen real progress in the last two years. About half of the 10 million cubic feet of quake debris has been removed from Port-au-Prince and other areas. More people have access to clean water in the capital than before the quake. With investment from a Korean garment maker, an industrial park is being built in the northeast, with the promise of 20,000 jobs.

The commission still has a critical role to play, organizing projects, bolstering accountability and transparency, and working to give international donors the confidence to follow through on their pledges. Only about half of the $4.6 billion promised for 2010 and 2011 has been received and spent.

A United Nations analysis showed that while many nations have been generous, particularly the United States, Brazil, Canada, Spain and France, almost all the money has gone to nongovernmental organizations and private contractors. To build Haitian capacity, that will have to change, and the commission can help — by giving guidance to Haiti’s ministries and monitoring their efforts.

President Martelly is a more engaged leader than his predecessor. In the fall, he announced a plan to house 30,000 residents of six tent cities with rental subsidies and new construction. More than a half-million Haitians remain in camps and it is not clear if he will take on powerful landowners to free up the land needed for rebuilding. He needs to abandon his focus on building an army. What Haiti needs is a professional, accountable police force.

Other governments and institutions are pressing on. Last month the World Bank approved a $255 million plan to build houses, train teachers and feed schoolchildren. The grant includes $50 million in agricultural projects. A nongovernmental organization, Partners in Health, plans to open a teaching hospital in the countryside. The Inter-American Development Bank has gathered about $150 million in a five-year, $500 million plan that will build and repair hundreds of schools and train thousands of teachers to bring free public education to all Haitian schoolchildren.

The Haitian government badly needs a national strategy for creating permanent housing and jobs, to resettle people out of Port-au-Prince. The coming year should be one in which Haitians begin to take control of their rebuilding, with continued outside help.