12223: reparations (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JHUDICOURTB@aol.com

I don't see why people ( Manbo san bout, Wilson) assimilate reparations with
begging.  There is a very clear problem here:  My ancestor Jean-Pierre Boyer
should never have accepted that Haiti owed any money to France.  I also
believe that reparations should not be paid in Cash to individual Haitians or
the the GOH.  I think those who are working on reparations should focus on
some essential problems of Haiti:  Transportation, housing, technology,
education.  I think a very appropriate role for the French would be to build
us free of charge 3 new international airports, several new warfs, a
North-South rail system, some telepherics, and a major industrial city in the
dust bowl between Gonaives and Gros Morne:  Independance City.  A bi-national
commission should be created to negotiate the details of such an arrangement.
 I am sure that the French government could find it good to hire out some of
their best planners .  If there is a major electric plant (non polluting), a
major port, and a major university are included, there is no reason to think
such a project would be bad for Haiti or France.  French influence is on the
verge of dying in Haiti because we are surrounded by non-French, and the
influence of English and Spanish hyphenated Haitians is strongly felt in
Haiti.  So far the only investment the French government seems perfectly
willing to make is related to making sure their language and culture are
maintained in Haiti.  It's time for them to pay up in real terms.  How
fitting the new City  would be for the 2004 celebration.  Haiti is in dire
need of new cities and new industries to relieve the major centers of
Port-au-Prince, Cap Haitien, and Cayes for migration from the mountains.  And
for those who have driven from Gonaives to Gros-Mornes, you know that even
though some pwa congo an mayi grow there in rainy times, that region cannot
be considered viable for Agriculture.
By the way Mambo Sans Bout should know that the French have very detailed
records about the colonial period and about who the French plantation owners
were.  My cousin Gilles has consulted their records for his genealogy hobby.
If reparation seekers wanted to go that way they could seek out individual
families  who made their fortunes in slavery and received payments for their
lost properties after independance..  .