EDITORIAL - CARICOM's Haiti agenda

WE DO not know the order of the agenda for the January 5-7 meeting in Kingston of officials from Haiti and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to advance Haiti's post-earthquake recovery .

But our desire is that concentration should be, in the argot of public-sector and non-government organisation bureaucrats, on 'capacity building'.

We, however, do not mean that officials should sit around belabouring the known facts of the collapse of Haiti's state bureaucracy then giving consultants the job of 'designing' a programme to be taken before the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission for, after the requisite delays, approval and funding.

Rather, as we previously suggested, CARICOM, with the approval of the Haitian authorities, should broaden the mandate of its special representative to Haiti, the former Jamaican prime minister, Mr P.J. Patterson, to include on-the-ground, hands-on technical assistance and support for the Haitian government. Alternatively, a separate mission could undertake this project.

Specifically, CARICOM states would assign senior public-sector managers and other technocrats to work alongside existing senior Haitian public-sector managers and civil-service cadets for the emergency repair, and ultimate rebuilding, of state institutions. This does not preclude assistance from others, or the establishment of new training institutions to develop public-sector skills over the long term.

A CARICOM emergency initiative would bring with it specific benefits, not least of which is trust.

Common threads of history and culture between CARICOM states would likely make it easier for officials from this region to appreciate and respond to the social nuances of Haiti, without the super-ciliousness that often undermines developmental initiatives. In any event, Haiti needs the support so that it can respond by putting energy into the recovery effort a year after its devastating earthquake.

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission has approved more than $1.5 billion in recovery projects, but the process has moved slowly because international donors have little faith in Haiti's bureaucracy to get things done and to account for the money. As President René Préval complained last week, this means that the Haitian authorities can't always attack the areas of immediate need, which saps public confidence in the state.

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