9764: Re: 9730: Durban notes GOH now in Chicken Business (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: John Kozyn <jckozyn@hotmail.com>

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

>Another question for Michelle Karshan:

Well, I haven't seen a response from MK yet but I'm sure this post is at or 
near the top of her agenda this week Lance ;)

>Who ordered these
>chickens, how were they paid for, and where are they going?

Indeed! Let's get to the bottom of this right away - j/k

>So, how is the Ministry
>of Agriculture planning to succeed where the private sector
>failed, or am I missing something here?

Well, let's define success first. Then, let's take a reality check and 
remember that the government's priorities still revolve around the ambit of 
national production. Let's also remember that Haiti's economy is largely 
"informal" (I note with satisfaction that this term is solidly lodged within 
"Corbett List Discourse").

If we accept these premises as given then it may be quite likely that this 
is some low-level, pull yourselves up by the bootstraps, grassroots 
oriented, self-help project so that _some_ peasants (certainly not all) 
might be able to live their lives with some improvement. Of course, I could 
be wrong too - maybe it is a nefarious plot, who knows? :)

>I should close by saying that this is precisely the kind of
>government 'project' that troubles me when we start hearing
>about IDB loans.  If the GOH is buying live chicks for an
>ill-conceived project with loan monies, the people of Haiti
>(through its government) may end up paying for some rather
>expensive chicken dinners!

And I should close by saying that some naysayers have entirely too much free 
time on their hands - Fòk nou rebati peyi a blan ;)

John Kozyn
Embassy of the Republic of Haiti
Washington DC

N.B. (My remarks on this private list are mine alone and do not reflect the 
opinions of the Haitian Government :)

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