22754: (Chamberlain) Haiti gets aid money (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(NYTimes, 21 July 04)


$1 Billion Is Pledged to Help Haiti Rebuild, Topping Request

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS



WASHINGTON, July 20 - International donors pledged $1.08 billion on Tuesday
to help rebuild Haiti, surpassing the $924 million requested by the interim
Haitian government.

The United States committed about $230 million over two years, part of a
desperately needed infusion for the country, which is struggling for
political stability and basic services.

"Today, the Haitian people have a new opportunity to fashion a better
future and a new government that is determined to help them seize the
opportunity that is before them," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said
in announcing the American pledge. "The proud and enterprising people of
Haiti need and deserve this chance."

The meeting of donors was the second time in a decade that nations and
international financial institutions have collected money on an emergency
basis for Haiti. Contributors this time said they believed that their money
would be better spent, with safeguards against corruption, close
international oversight and a government that has bridged a longstanding
political divide.

The international community, led by the United States, has spent as much as
$2.6 billion in Haiti since the American-led intervention in 1994, but
contributors steadily curtailed the assistance because of a breakdown in
economic and political reforms.

International officials said much of their optimism rested with the
apolitical nature of the interim government, which was installed in March
by a council of elders after a rebellion forced the departure, with
American help, of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The officials described
the new leaders as technocrats who have promised to help lead a return to
democracy but who will not be candidates themselves - conditions that
provide a window of nearly two years to begin an economic and political
overhaul.

Gérard Latortue, the interim prime minister, said the money would largely
be used to build up the country's infrastructure, including its unreliable
electricity network and poor roads. Donors praised him for establishing an
independent anticorruption unit as one of his early acts in government.

"If we have electricity and roads, you will not have to come back here
every 10 years to help Haiti," Mr. Latortue told the donors. "We have come
out of a nightmare, but we have a new approach, a deep change in the
mentality of Haitians."

The European Commission promised to provide $325 million in grants, and the
World Bank pledged $155 million in grants and interest-free loans. The
Inter-American Development Bank offered $260 million in soft loans, which
are long-term loans at a low fixed rate. Canada pledged $112 million and
France said it would give $92.8 million in grants and other assistance to
its onetime colony.

Mr. Powell said the Bush administration's contribution would triple the
amount of American aid that had originally been designated for Haiti this
fiscal year. He said that $19 million of the additional aid would primarily
be dedicated to fighting H.I.V. and AIDS. Other money will support a
program that the Haitian government expects to create 31,000 temporary jobs
in two months and to provide aid to depoliticize the national police force.