=?x-unknown?q?27492=3A__Durban_=28comment=29=3A__Cit=E9_Solei?==?x-unknown?q?l_Project_II_-_Political_=28fwd=29?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com> writes:

Solving Cité Soleil should be the top priority of any Haitian
administration simply because progress on any other front is
impossible while the country has a safe haven for criminals.
The cost of doing nothing is huge.  Consider the senseless loss
of life, the resources tied up in U.N. peacekeeping, the
disappearance of jobs and investment, and the permanent departure
of the very people Haiti can least afford to lose.

In a by-lined piece in the Miami Herald recently, Jacqueline Charles
gives the Latortue Administration a mixed report card.  She is more
generous than most people in Haiti.   Thirteen months ago so much in
Haiti seemed possible.  What went wrong?  Lack of vision, an inability
to execute even the most rudimentary tasks, a fatally flawed partisan
bias which lead to a political witch-hunt?  No matter.  There is room
for redemption, but Latortue and Company need to roll up their sleeves
and get to work.

Right now, it should be working with U.N peacekeepers to develop a
program to peacefully defuse Cité Soleil.  The goal is to bring this
off with no loss of life, a task that will require skillful planning,
serious resources, and a commitment on the part of all the players in
Haiti.  Cité Soleil Project I ? Overview provided a blueprint, but the
project now needs local leadership and fleshing out.

All of the leading candidates in Tuesday?s presidential contest should
be brought into the process.  They should be called on for input as a
way not only of improving the project, but as a means of getting their
support for its implementation.  And getting vocal support for a
project that few could possibly oppose should not be difficult.

Simultaneously, the Administration should emphasize its role as honest
broker in the election, and solicit a commitment from all candidates to
accept the results.    In fact, electoral reaction of the losing
candidates will probably determine whether the election is deemed a
success.  Somehow, the 2nd place finisher has to be brought on board
the bus, even if it is not his bus.

The Cité Soleil Project, as envisioned, is big enough for everyone.
Indeed, to be successful, it will require the active collaboration
of all of the players in Haiti.  It can be a tool to unite, but
leadership at the highest level is required.  Is the Interim
Government up to the task and why might it take this risk?
Simple:  To resuscitate its own reputation and leave a legacy.
Why should it?  Because this program, once started, can take the
political heat off a successor administration, which will find it
much easier to finish a job already begun, than to start it from
scratch.  (Cité Soleil Project III ? Financing to follow).

L. Durban