PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

EVACUATE PORT AU PRINCE

Haiti, before the earthquake of 1.12.10, was one of the saddest places on earth and certainly in the western hemisphere. Truth be told, no one cares about Haiti, even though, for this moment, we all do. Haiti is the basket case of the western world, the place where dreams of reform, change and helping people eat and live go to die.

Things are so bad in Haiti, on a normal day, that you don’t see any trees in the low land areas. Why? Because people desperate for what little money they can make long ago cut the trees down and made charcoal for sale. One part of a vital life has to be sacrificed to get through this part, the day.

If you remember four years ago, our government finally figured out what to do with the people of New Orleans, after about a week, and decided to fly anyone who would go to anywhere else in the United States. Something like that is what needs to happen in Haiti. Where would the people go? The Dominican Republic surely does not want to take people in desperate poverty who might not go home. Nor would most other islands in the Caribbean.

The first place some of the people could go would be to tent cities outside Port au Prince, to the degree that any such cities can be assembled with enough food, water and other support for thousands of people. Where  next?  Perhaps every nation in north and south America could be persuaded to take five to a hundred thousand people each. If about half of Port au Prince’s population (or less depending on the area hit by the worst devesation) could be evacuated to the countryside and to to other nations, then a comprehensive plan for Haiti could be arrived at by Haitians and the world community. Otherwise, the people there are condemned to a few hundred more years, at least, of desperate poverty.

It is hard to imagine how Port au Prince is going to be rebuilt if all the living people stay there. The current disaster presents a real opportunity to provide a livable situation to return to once the city is mostly, or partly, rebuilt. In fact, it could be the best opportunity in the last one hundred years to turn Haiti around.

The shanty towns, those that have collapsed, should be razed. Very modest, but solid, housing could be put in their place, houses that would provide for clean safe living conditions as well as survival through any future hurricanes or earthquakes. The U.S. cannot afford to rebuild Haiti from the ground up, but what about us and the rest of the world? Japan, England, France, Germany, Spain? Surely there is enough wealth to spin off a few billion dollars for Haiti. (From what I’ve heard in recent days, the bonuses and compensation of the Wall Street investment banks for just one year would probably do the job.)

Once saving those trapped in rubble is complete and provisioning medical attention for the living has been arranged, the real problem begins: what to do with all those people. There is simply nowhere for them to go and it is hard to imagine tent cities in the countryside being created where everyone could stay. The basic resources of water and hygiene are simply not available. If we can turn this disaster into an opportunity, and provide a real step up for at least a portion of the population, we might be able to help provide a step forward for all of Haiti and, in the process, lessen the impact of future disasters.

Doug Terry, 1.13.10

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