Submitted by Bryan Schaaf on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 09:26.
By JACQUELINE CHARLES (jcharles@MiamiHerald.com)
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Hoping to reduce the vulnerability of Haitians living in some of the country's most high-risk areas for flash floods, the U.S. Agency for International Development plans to spend $155 million over the next five years on stabilizing some of Haiti's most denuded hillsides.
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The commitment comes in the wake of last year's succession of storms that triggered flash floods and mudslides that killed nearly 800 Haitians and caused $1 billion in damage.
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''Haiti is facing massive economic and environmental challenges, so you need an integrated watershed management -- from ridge to reef, or from top of the mountain to the bottom.'' said Alex Deprez, USAID acting deputy mission director for Haiti.
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But U.S. officials concede that the money is a mere fraction of what Haiti needs to revitalize its hillsides, fix irrigation systems, and protect its 9 million citizens from even normal rains. Experts estimate that Haiti needs $5 billion over the next 15 years to slow the pace of deforestation.
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USAID has attempted for more than 20 years to shore up Haiti's crumbling hillsides, focusing mainly on the planting of trees without much success.
.
Last year, USAID Caribbean administrator Jose Cardenas told Congress: ``In all candor, the issue of forestation in Haiti is one that has vexed our agency for many, many years. Unfortunately, planting trees -- we could not keep up the pace by which they were being cut down.''
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A 1997 USAID report to Congress said deforestation cost Haiti as much as 30 million trees per year.
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Now the agency is hoping that by not just focusing on tree planting it will not only see success, but also get other donors interested as it targets hills in Cabaret, Gonaives and the Cul de Sac in Port-au-Prince.
.
''We are trying to work strategically. If we are working on a piece in the lower watershed, we follow it back upstream so we are sure we are protecting the work that has been done downstream,'' Deprez said.
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Joel Boutroue, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti, who has been an outspoken proponent of revitalizing the hills, said it's difficult to get donors interested in the problem. A year ago, the United Nations Development Program sent a proposal to Japan seeking $5 million for projects. A $20 million proposal has also been submitted to the European Union. So far, neither one has responded, he said.
.
''I have a lot of difficulty raising money,'' said Boutroue, who recently took members of the UN Security Council on a tour of some of Haiti's most barren mountains. ``What I've managed to do is get other people interested.''
.
Following the storms, Boutroue said UNDP put between 7,000 and 15,000 Haitians to work a day in terracing hillsides around the Gonaives areas, where the World Bank just completed a study of its denuded hills. More work is needed.
.
''If I had $20 million we can probably do much more,'' Boutroue said. ''The effect would not be immediate [but] it is a gradual process,'' he said.
.
The U.S. government last year allocated $400 million in assistance to Haiti.
.
The money includes set amounts for hurricane relief and reconstruction efforts. USAID also re-programmed a significant portion of the funds to emergency food aid, cash-for-work, road rehabilitation, school and clinic cleanups as well as school and clinic repairs and construction.
.
The agency plans to rehabilitate some 180 schools in Haiti at an average cost of $100,000 per school, making many of them hurricane-shelter ready.
U.S. Tries to Reduce Flood Risk in Haiti (Miami Herald)
By JACQUELINE CHARLES (jcharles@MiamiHerald.com)
.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Hoping to reduce the vulnerability of Haitians living in some of the country's most high-risk areas for flash floods, the U.S. Agency for International Development plans to spend $155 million over the next five years on stabilizing some of Haiti's most denuded hillsides.
.
The commitment comes in the wake of last year's succession of storms that triggered flash floods and mudslides that killed nearly 800 Haitians and caused $1 billion in damage.
.
''Haiti is facing massive economic and environmental challenges, so you need an integrated watershed management -- from ridge to reef, or from top of the mountain to the bottom.'' said Alex Deprez, USAID acting deputy mission director for Haiti.
.
But U.S. officials concede that the money is a mere fraction of what Haiti needs to revitalize its hillsides, fix irrigation systems, and protect its 9 million citizens from even normal rains. Experts estimate that Haiti needs $5 billion over the next 15 years to slow the pace of deforestation.
.
USAID has attempted for more than 20 years to shore up Haiti's crumbling hillsides, focusing mainly on the planting of trees without much success.
.
Last year, USAID Caribbean administrator Jose Cardenas told Congress: ``In all candor, the issue of forestation in Haiti is one that has vexed our agency for many, many years. Unfortunately, planting trees -- we could not keep up the pace by which they were being cut down.''
.
A 1997 USAID report to Congress said deforestation cost Haiti as much as 30 million trees per year.
.
Now the agency is hoping that by not just focusing on tree planting it will not only see success, but also get other donors interested as it targets hills in Cabaret, Gonaives and the Cul de Sac in Port-au-Prince.
.
''We are trying to work strategically. If we are working on a piece in the lower watershed, we follow it back upstream so we are sure we are protecting the work that has been done downstream,'' Deprez said.
.
Joel Boutroue, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti, who has been an outspoken proponent of revitalizing the hills, said it's difficult to get donors interested in the problem. A year ago, the United Nations Development Program sent a proposal to Japan seeking $5 million for projects. A $20 million proposal has also been submitted to the European Union. So far, neither one has responded, he said.
.
''I have a lot of difficulty raising money,'' said Boutroue, who recently took members of the UN Security Council on a tour of some of Haiti's most barren mountains. ``What I've managed to do is get other people interested.''
.
Following the storms, Boutroue said UNDP put between 7,000 and 15,000 Haitians to work a day in terracing hillsides around the Gonaives areas, where the World Bank just completed a study of its denuded hills. More work is needed.
.
''If I had $20 million we can probably do much more,'' Boutroue said. ''The effect would not be immediate [but] it is a gradual process,'' he said.
.
The U.S. government last year allocated $400 million in assistance to Haiti.
.
The money includes set amounts for hurricane relief and reconstruction efforts. USAID also re-programmed a significant portion of the funds to emergency food aid, cash-for-work, road rehabilitation, school and clinic cleanups as well as school and clinic repairs and construction.
.
The agency plans to rehabilitate some 180 schools in Haiti at an average cost of $100,000 per school, making many of them hurricane-shelter ready.