13385: RE: 13368: Hoover on Rudeness and Roots

[corbetre@webster.edu]

From: "Hoover, Julie H." <Hoover@pbworld.com>

Almost all of the service workers I've ever met in Haiti have been unusually
warm, friendly, and fun.

I'm wondering why the Haitian government allows a foreign company to get
away with importing all their own employees.  Years ago, I worked as a
planner in Puerto Rico and I remember talking to many architects and
planners who were involved in the building of Dorado Beach, a fancy resort
developed at the time as a U.S.-based Rock Resort.  The Puerto Rican
government demanded that the Rockefeller people train local residents to do
all jobs associated with the resort--from housekeeping to landscaping to
cooking.  Best, while they initially allowed Rock Resorts to bring in some
managers, there was a timetable, extending out to five years I think, for
these managers to train Puerto Ricans to take their places.

Currently, I'm doing work in sustainable development and wondering how to
best implement the social aspects of this for resorts and hotels (the other
two components of sustainable development being economic development and
environmental protection).  Training local workers, developing local crafts
industries, buying as much local produce as possible (even it this means
convincing farmers to grow different crops), working with local merchants to
sell things tourists would want to buy, and avoiding "all-inclusive" resorts
where tourists are kept inside seem fundamental.

I realize, of course, that Haiti is not in as strong a bargaining position
as Puerto Rico, but they might extract a few concessions for the right to
develop in their country, and training and hiring local service workers
seems pretty basic.


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