19413: (Hermantin) SunSentinel-Haiti's unrest hurting S. Florida's commerce (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haiti's unrest hurting S. Florida's commerce

By Doreen Hemlock
Business Writer
Posted February 28 2004


Shipping companies can't send cargo. Travel agencies can't sell airline
tickets. Purveyors of prepaid calling cards find their clients can't even
get calls through.

Haiti's political crisis is paralyzing companies in South Florida who do
business with the Caribbean island of 8 million residents.

International Shipping and Trading Co. in Miami hasn't sent a vessel to
Haiti for more than a month.

Clients who usually send cars or other goods for sale on the island are
holding back, afraid that their merchandise could be looted from warehouses,
said Capt. Manohar Mahajan, president of the company that owns two ships and
charters others.

"The crews are afraid to go now too. They worry the ships could get stuck
there," said Mahajan, who used to send vessels to Haiti every 20 to 25 days.

As airlines suspend flights to the violence-torn nation, travel agents face
headaches, too.

Haiti-born entrepreneur Florence Joseph, who owns Joseph Travel in Pompano
Beach, handed back at least one refund on an Air France flight and
rescheduled customers on several American Airlines flights to Haiti canceled
this week.

"I'm refusing people who come in now, because I can't sell a ticket when I
know my client won't be able to use it," Joseph said. "And it could be a
whole month goes by and no flights. No one knows."

South Florida is feeling the brunt, because it's a hub for U.S. trade with
Haiti and home to the largest concentration of Haitians living in the United
States.

More than half of U.S.-Haiti commerce -- the two nations traded roughly $1
billion in goods last year -- passes through Florida, most of it through
southern ports. That includes the bulk of food sold to Haiti.

Plus, South Florida has at least 200,000 Haitian-American residents, a tally
now estimated to surpass New York, community activists say.

Yet even calling to Haiti to get news on family or business meets roadblocks
these days.

At Classic Multi-Services in Delray Beach, owner Enid Francois said people
who try to place a call to Haiti or buy a pre-paid calling card couldn't get
through Friday.

"Today, nobody is coming to my shop," said the Haitian entrepreneur. "We
can't sell calling cards. We can't transfer money to the island."

Besides, the news is often devastating to hear, she said: murder, rape,
looting, trauma, fear. "My cousin said people don't go out, and they don't
have food. I tried to send food, but the company can't deliver," Francois
said. "I'm so worried about my family."

Some executives in Haiti are pondering relocation amid the violence.

Immigration lawyer Carlo Jean-Joseph, a sole practitioner in Lauderhill,
said he's seen "a lot of inquiries from Haitians looking to establish
businesses here" in South Florida. Indeed, the horrific news from Haiti
seems to be crimping the will to spend by some Haitian-Americans.

Alex J'nette, who owns Alex Record Store & Music in Fort Lauderdale, said
his sales of stereo equipment and compact discs had been slipping for
months, as fewer Haitian travelers visited from the island to shop. But
since the rebel uprising in February, even local Haitians have slashed their
purchases. "Sometimes I'm selling one CD in one day," said the Jacmel-born
entrepreneur.

Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.

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