16417: (Hermantin) Miami Herald-Haitian town sees brighter days ahead (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Mon, Aug. 18, 2003

Haitian town sees brighter days ahead
Electricity makes return
BY MICHAEL NORTON
Associated Press

PETIT-GOAVE, Haiti -- For the first time in years, the Haitians of
Petit-Goave are seeing the light -- regularly.

Children in the small coastal town no longer have to squint under dim
kerosene lamps, vendors can serve frosty drinks, and people feel safer.

The arrival of electricity also has a political dimension -- fewer
anti-government protests.

''The immediate payoff is undeniable. Light is bringing social stability,''
said Jean-Marie Vorbe, president of Sogener, the private energy company that
brought electricity to Petit-Goave.

Since April 15, Sogener's two diesel-powered generators have provided the
town of 15,000 and neighboring areas with their first constant flow of power
in a decade.

PROTESTS EASED

In this town of brightly painted cottages, where front porches are battered
by salt-laden winds, there's a new sense of well-being. Petit-Goave is an
anti-government stronghold, but people here have stopped mounting the often
violent protests that used to erupt every few days over questionable
elections, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government and its failure to
deliver basic services.

Homes aren't wired for electricity, and even if they were, most Haitians
wouldn't be able to afford it even at the government-subsidized price.

But in a town that faded into the shadows each night, children can now study
under bright streetlights.

''People aren't afraid to go out at night any more,'' said Jesula Israel,
45.

Private companies sell electricity to the state utility, Haiti Electricity,
which resells it at subsidized prices. Five towns have gotten power in the
past year, and the government has projects, for example, one with the
Canadian government, that light another half-dozen towns.

`LIGHTING THE WAY'

Other Haitian cities such as Cap-Haitien, have had round-the-clock power for
a year, and Les Cayes since February. Soon Sogener plans to light up western
Gonaives and St. Marc, joint population about 150,000.

''We want to light the way to 2004,'' the 200th anniversary of independence
from France, said Lionel Carre, Haiti Electricity director in Petit-Goave.

But there's a long way to go.

Haiti still lacks the money to upgrade its decrepit web of wires,
transformers and electricity poles. Last month, a frayed high-voltage line
snapped and fell onto fans watching a nighttime basketball game in
Petit-Goave, electrocuting 15 spectators.

Less than 6 percent of Haitians have electricity full-time, and blackouts
still plague greater Port-au-Prince -- the capital and home to about
one-third of Haiti's 7.9 million people.

In 1999, Haiti consumed 40 kilowatt hours per capita, compared with 646 in
neighboring and black-out prone Dominican Republic, according to the latest
U.N. Human Development Report.

Aristide has pleaded with Haitians to be patient, saying progress takes time
in a country whose history is a timeline of political unrest.

However, while the improvements have satisfied many in Petit-Goave, there's
still dissatisfaction over soaring prices and battered infrastructure. In
January, fuel prices doubled after the government removed a subsidy.

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail