a1332: Re: a1307: Those lending Co-Ops (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: kevin pina <kpinbox@hotmail.com>


The Haitian government has been moving fast to regulate the cooperatives and
stave off abuse. This has had the interesting effect of forcing several of
the larger cooperatives to reevaluate their operations and agressively begin
to seek development projects to invest in with a more realistic rate of
return for depositors. This was, afterall, the original intention of the
cooperative movement, to pool togther small investors and establish capital
investment funds for development. Unfortunately, the only institution able
to regulate and control the economic climate, the Haitian government, is
severely hamstrung by the current deteriorating conditions due to the
embargo imposed on behalf of the Covergence.

The cooperatives, seeking investment opportunities within Haiti, also face
another great obstacle. They are forced to compete with parallel development
projects instituted by the plethora of NGO's currently operating with
70+million dollars in handouts from U.S. taxpayers. Every imaginable avenue
and resource of national production is currently being developed and pursued
by one NGO or another leaving very little room for private investment
opportunities or initiatives to compete independently. The track record of
U.S.A.I.D inspired and regulated projects, actually improving the Haitian
economy and providing lasting results for her citizens, remains
questionable. An average NGO director receives $50,000 per year, hazard pay,
a four-wheel drive vehicle, per diems and an expense account while the
average Haitian family is now forced to live off less than $200 per year.
Who can compete with resources like that?









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