7113: POST ANONYMOUSLY -- Purchase of a $1.2M House for ex-President Preval

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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Acquisition of $1,200,000 house to host ex-President Rene
Preval

It would seem that this acquisition of a comfortable
mansion in Musseau (residential neighborhood of the
Capital) was made by the Haitian authorities. This mansion
will be at the disposal of the ex-president for an
undetermined period.

This acquisition was made a few days prior to his leaving
office. The ex-President has already had a house built for
him in Marmelade (His native town in the Northern
Department), although he did not own a house in the
Capital. According to information obtained by HTN, Mr.
Preval is occupying this mansion temporarily until he
purchases his own residence. 

Note: the 2 prior paragraphs are my not too good
translation of an article that I read on haitiwebs.com
http://www.haitiwebs.com/cgi-bin/gazette/news.cgi?do=view+article&cat=HTN&article=982692084>.
Prior to speaking about it on the list I verified that it
was reported in other media in Haiti.

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I am surprised that this list is offended by such purchase
by the Haitian authorities (or government). In a country
were the Capital has almost no electricity, no water and
shabby infrastructures, what is the JUSTIFICATION for such
a purchase? 

I mean each time you want to hope that things are changing
in Haiti, the government does something that throws you
off.
What is more important is the kind of reporting that does
NOT disclose who this house was purchased from. This does
indicate that some people want to profit from LAVALAS but
not have their names associated with their illegal actions.
The piece is suspect in my eyes because it would seem that
it is protecting the very people who profited from such a
purchase. And I do hope that these are not the "ususal
suspects"(Morally Repugnat Elite) who are once again able
to get theirs from the Lavalas government.

In addition what does a $1,2M house have that makes it so
expensive. Does it have a sophisticated and the latest
technology in cameras, security system, is wired for the
21st century...etc I mean is this what the country really
needs? Couldn't that money have been used towards
purchasing the wattage necessary to give Haiti a little bit
more electricity? Or anything else but a luxurious mansion
for an ex-president?