14272: Pierre Jean: Re: 14254: mrapollon@hotmail.com Re: Light for Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Pierre Jean <pierrejean01@yahoo.com>

The Jacmel miracle you refer to may not last too long
if a more appropriate source of energy is not found. I
cannot understand for the life of me why this
government, and all the previous ones, decided to get
addicted to the most expensive form of electricity
production, i.e. diesel fuel.

The current administration's penchant for
short-sighted political solutions to real-life
problems explains why they chose to light up Les Cayes
24 hours a day using a diesel plant leased from SOGED,
instead of spending time to find cheaper solutions.
What will happen when the contract runs out?

Same thing happened in Jacmel. Hydro-Quebec had
offered to look at cheaper alternatives, yet the
then-government chose to go with a diesel plant. If
Jacmel still has electricity 24 hours a day, that is
because of the high payment rate of the citizenry
(above 85%, I believe.) But if the price of diesel
increases tremendously, and if the economy keeps
tanking, then all bets are off.

Dr. Michel Lominy from APDESE (Association pour la
Promotion et le Développement Economique du Sud-Est)
has written many times about this issue, and he has
argued tirelessly about the need to come up with a
long-term sensible solution to the country's energy
crisis, but no one is paying attention to him. Maybe
they will when we can no longer afford diesel plants.


--- Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu> wrote:
>
>
> From: Marlène Apollon <mrapollon@hotmail.com>
>
>
> Four times this week, on December 23, 25, 30, and
> today, December 31, my
> neighborhood was without electricity, the first time
> from 1:30 pm to 3:30 am.
> As the hours dragged on, daylight vanished and the
> house began to turn cold, I
> remained patient and in a good mood by thinking
> about the majority of the
> people of Haiti who live without electricity 24
> hours a day.  At least, in my
> case, I knew that my problem  was temporary and
> that, sooner or later, it was
> going to be fixed.
>
> At the same time, however, I could not help thinking
> that if here in Baltimore
> we were having all those "black outs" for no
> apparent reasons and if, with all
> their technology, money and know-how, our Gas and
> Electric Company took such a
> long time to fix a power outage on a couple of
> streets, how could we expect to
> be able to solve the electrical problems of an
> entire country with such limited
> resources as Haiti?
>
> That reinforced my feeling that individuals and
> private organizations should
> get involved.  I know that a few have already done
> so on a small scale. Why
> couldn’t it be done on a larger scale?  Why can’t
> the “Jacmel miracle” of 24
> hours electricity be repeated elsewhere?
>
>   “Let there be  light” everywhere in Haiti.  This
> is one of my wishes.  Let
> 2003 be for all those who love Haiti a year of
> enlightenment in every way.
> Have a great one.
>
>
>
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