8915: Re: 8904: Job Creation, again (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: IRSCP@aol.com

I would like to wholeheartedly empathize with Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous on this post. I think every Haitian should be concerned over that issue. Many on the left will disagree however with him, probably for the wrong reasons.

These seem to be two basic reasons (or perhaps even three), why it is so hard to do business in Haiti. The first one may be a managerial issue. Haiti has so many politicians, but very few managers at the State level who have built up a worthy system of control of the ins and outs of what is happening inside their department. The anonymous writer may be one of these business people who have bumped onto that archaic system, which very few of us seem willing to talk about.

The second reason may be the red tape issue as he or she understands it. But the red tape may be a matter of "grese la pat" politics. In other words, if you want to open up your business in Haiti, you must "give me something". True but hard to admit for so many of us because it is so shameful.

The third reason may be purely ideological. What if you bumped onto someone who does not believe in seeing a business in Haiti that is only paying US$2 a day to the poor? Then the person may make it harder, much harder for you to open up shop there. But there is a catch. That so-called "good will" individual may be opposed to seeing the poor getting 2 dollars a day for his or her labor. In the meantime, that poor laborer who is being "protected", will go to the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas, and work under even much worse condition for perhaps even less. There (in the DR or the Bahamas), that poor Haitian gets very little or no respect from either the State, Government, or Society at large.

Shouldn't it then be better for the Haitian Government to let those so-called "capitalist exploiters" come to Haiti, and open up shops there? The more of them that come, the more they may have to compete with each other. As they're competing, we can negotiate with them so we can create rules and regulations that will somehow protect the employees, the poor laborer. The State will have collected more tax dollars (thus greater fiscal strength), and be able to implement better policies that will eventually protect the poor better.

It is one thing to complain about the Bahamas and the DR  mistreating Haitians. These are good, sad stories that touch the heart, and make us angry when we read them. On the other hand, wouldn't it be better and easier for us to fight for the poor in Haiti, under our wings, so they can in the long run have better treatment, than in effect forcing them to get on a boat to the Bahamas or cross the border to the DR, where they will work under much worse conditions. Overthere, they have very little or no protection from either Civil Society, Government, or the people or businesses they work for.

In the final analysis, are we willing to look at reality and deal with it, or do we wish to fool ourselves with rhetoric that have nothing to do with the reality of our country and the misery we're in?

Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP