20752: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Haiti dreams die hard (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haiti dreams die hard

By Karla D. Shores
Staff Writer
Posted March 23 2004


He hadn't hung a sign yet. But Fort Lauderdale entrepreneur Eddy Remy and
two Haitian partners planned to name his new business Les Trois Font la Paix
-- The Three Make Peace.

For three months Remy banked on a liquor and soda distribution warehouse in
Port-au-Prince. The idea couldn't go wrong with the triple hit of Christmas,
Haiti's bicentennial and carnival celebrations, he thought.

On Feb. 28, a day before former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide
left office, looters rushed the warehouse and took everything -- even ripped
out the shelves -- and set fire to Remy's lifelong dream.

"I never understood when my grandmother used to say, `Haiti is a slippery
land,' " said Remy, who left Cap Haitien with his family at age 5. "I
finally understood. Overnight you can go from having to not having
instantly."

Overnight, Remy, of Sunrise, lost more than $50,000 of savings he used to
start the distribution business in December. His partners in Haiti, married
men with children, are now unemployed.

Over the past few relatively quiet days, several Haitian-Americans in South
Florida are stepping back to survey the damage to their businesses in Haiti.

Many, especially owners of shipping companies in Palm Beach, Broward and
Miami-Dade counties, lost hundreds of thousands in revenue because senders
just don't trust their wares will make it. Shippers will have to wait out a
huge dip in demand.

No one tracks the number of Haitian-Americans who own businesses in Haiti,
but dozens of young Haitian-American entrepreneurs live in South Florida,
said Tony Marcelli, spokesman for the Haitian American Business Council and
president of Caribbean American Shipping Co. in Fort Lauderdale.

"Most Haitians ship food and supplies to relatives in Haiti," said Marcelli.
"When people send money to Haiti they are not only helping them to feed
their families, they're supporting small businesses their families run
there. There's a lot of informal businesses in Haiti."

Most Haitian-Americans with businesses in Haiti have other income sources in
the states. Remy is a mortgage broker for Qwest Financial in Fort
Lauderdale.

Some have nothing left.

Good Samaritan Shipping Co. owner Wilenge Phadael closed his business after
looters in early February stole a trailer of goods worth about $17,000.

"I don't make no trip until everything cools off and the security come
back," said Phadael. "I'm hoping for April."

Phadael is getting by living with his girlfriend in Lake Worth and doing odd
driving jobs for friends.

"There's a lot of mess over there," he said.

David Desrouleaux's shipping and office supplies business, SOBE Export
Services, is down 40 percent. Desrouleaux said lawlessness in Haiti started
in December, like a harbinger of the chaos to come.

"It was like people were getting more daring because they knew somehow some
way the consequences wouldn't be there," said Desrouleaux.

Desrouleaux used to ship packages, foodstuffs, even cars, in a trailer-size
container every week. Now he is lucky to get one out twice a month.

Still, Desrouleaux said he is lucky because he only lost $10,000 in revenue
since December and he still has his containers.

Some of his competitors lost everything, he said.

Jean-Claude P. Cantave, executive director of the Haitian-American Center
for Economic and Public Affairs said he would encourage Haitian-Americans to
grow businesses in Haiti during a conference at Florida International
University in May.

Cantave hopes Haiti's new cabinet members will come to share with
businesspeople ways to effectively reignite businesses in Haiti.

"It's a blow, but it is temporary," said Cantave. "There are people
investing in Beirut and Baghdad at this time and the situation is a lot
worse there than it is here."

Karla Shores can be reached at kshores@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4552.

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