In step with our new tourism page, I’ve recently come across Nouveau Kiskeya (NK), an 11,500 acre land development project near Port-au-Paix. 

According to the website, the project will target the 1 million plus Haitian Americans living in the United States. Ideally, NK would offer retirement and vacation homes to 20,000 to 30,000 families.

Société Générale de Développement (SOGEDEV) is a private corporation that contracted with the Government of Haiti in April of this year to develop the land for regional economic development.

In the first three years, NK expects to create 600,000 man-days of work per year, not including the jobs created by developers participating in this project. This in addition to a local service economy created in the general area of Nouveau Kiskeya to support contractors and laborers.

Concerns about flying into Port-au-Prince will be addressed by a new international airport being constructed on the property.

This is a wonderful step towards reforming Haiti’s tourism economy; however, I am concerned by what potential job hunters may inflict upon the local habitats and ecosystems.

Clearly, this is a largely labor-intensive operation that will draw on labor from surrounding communities. But in this mostly under/ unemployed nation, where the demand for work is high, I fear that the mere prospect of employment will draw too great a number of people to the area than the project can sustain. If that is the case, the newly arrived may very well return to the social norm of clear cutting from charcoal production, agriculture, and over-grazing.

If this project hopes to succeed at creating a haven for travelers, something will need to be done to not only create jobs for the deluge of workers that will descend upon NK, but also something to preserve the natural habitat that tourists will want and expect to find.

This also raises concerns with me regarding fish habitat and the propensity to over harvest fish stocks in Haiti. Not just a fancy locale must NK bring, but also a cultural change in the way that Haitians treat the resources of the area. Certainly, we hope that the old axiom, if you build it, they will come materializes (and as NK has applied to the Haitian Government for Free Zone status, I think they are well on their way). I also hope that proactive steps are taken to protect natural resources so that tourists continue to come decades from now.

To learn more about Nouveau Kiskeya, click here.