Home  Editorials Haiti must be helped
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
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Page 1 of 2 The Caribbean is experiencing another devastating hurricane season. Within a span of three weeks three tropical storms – Fay, Gustav, and Hanna, and a hurricane, Ike, have blown through the region, seriously impacting The Bahamas, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti. While there was serious damage and tragic deaths in most of the islands, nothing compares to the devastation and horror that has affected Haiti.
How much more suffering can that unfortunate country take? Hardly a year goes by without Haiti being affected by a hurricane, tropical storm or flood rains. Each impact by severe weather sets the people further back in the throes of poverty, in a country that is already the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to being ravaged by four storms Haitians, particularly those living in the rural areas, were suffering from shortage of basic foods, and soaring food prices for what food existed. As if this was not enough, the situation in the country has been steadily exasperated by high unemployment, poor education, housing, healthcare, and political turmoil. Now, the images and reports of the wide scale death, destruction and grief resulting from flood waters caused by the impact of quadruple storms are hard to believe.
It is expected that there will be the usual rush to send in relief funds and supplies to Haiti from all over the world, including South Florida, home to thousands of Haitians. Of course such relief is a good and humanitarian effort. But, there have been tragedies before, with temporary relief measures. People usually react to the news of death and destruction by responding with relief in kind and cash, but as the news wanes so does the relief effort. The food and clothing sent to Haiti will, for a while, feed the hungry and clothe those who lost their belongings in the floods. But, what happens when the next storm hits, as sure it will sooner or later.
Attention paid to Haiti has been reactionary for much too long, whether it be political upheaval, a storm floods the countryside, or boatloads of Haitians are lost at sea trying to escape the gut wrenching throes of poverty. However the reaction does not work in building a new Haiti – one where people have a real chance of working their way out of poverty, and the government can build infrastructure to prevent the tragic deaths caused by natural disasters.
One of Haiti’s primary problems is its woefully weak national infrastructure. In Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands the storms, especially Ike, damaged the majority of homes, but neither country experienced the wide-scale loss of lives experienced in Haiti. Cuba’s government implements a very effective mandatory evacuation plan each time a storm approaches that island, protecting the lives of its people. Haiti, it seems, has no such plan. People knew the storms were heading their way, and although the government appealed for people to leave, many didn’t or couldn’t. Hundreds just had no where to go, and remained, resulting in some being washed away from floods rushing down hillsides with little or no trees.
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