Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

With La Gonave the issue of power is one of many reasons economic development doesn't happen. While there was once a solar producer in Haiti, that company doesn't appear to be in business any longer. One reason would be the cost of the panels that were sold. The panels were way over priced to the point where you can import panels that were superior in quality and power produced for cheaper. While some will say that buying from Haiti is important, we agree! The problem is that businesses have to make products where the price for the goods make sense. Otherwise they do a major disservice to the country. The lost jobs, prospects, industry, etc all affect the country due to companies over boosting the price of goods. Regardless La Gonave would need solar and wind to provide power. While the island would never be a power mega-house, it could become self-sustainable with energy. First the island residents would need to start off with basic solar panels of about 100W. Als...

I wrote about how La Gonave would no longer be sold. During the time that the decree was signed vs when it was voted down, many potential and real investors have walked away from La Gonave. In that blog I wrote how they would have lost any investment they put on the island. We even halted projects just to see what would happen with the Haitian elections and the decree the island was under. Both of those issues are now solved! Thank Goodness! Now we have to work at the beginning to bring folks back to the table to consider developing the island for the sake of the people, and not some underhanded offshore deal. With that said, the small village of Megasin could be the focus city for development. Megasin is a village NW of the city of Anse-a-Galets and has a population of under 100 people. With a smaller population and close proximity to Anse-a-Galets, the landing strip and the wharf, Megasin is ripe for development. The development would be stretched over a period of time and ...

Not long ago, the now ex-President Michel Martelly signed a decree that allowed the island of La Gonave to be entered into a long term land lease. The company, which was foreign, would have been able to own all things on the island (movable and immovable), and would have setup accounts to a foreign bank for a tax haven. In return, the company claimed it would build up the island and provide jobs, housing, education, etc for the island's people. Most local Haitians on the island felt that this would not happen and they would get the short end of the stick. In fact we stopped working on the island when we found out the decree was signed. Anything that we would have put on the island would be owned by this company. So why invest in something just to have it tied up in legal battles and even possibly loosing your investment.? What stopped the process at the time of the decree was that Haiti didn't have a full Parliament so they couldn't vote on it. Without a vote, the d...

For those who read this blog, they may ask what is wrong with using charcoal to cook your food? Actually in Haiti it has lead to devastating issues that compound. For one making charcoal requires the cutting down of trees. Once a lush forest is now a desert. Only 1-3% of the original forest cover still exists in Haiti. Cutting down trees, and not replacing them leads to soil erosion, weathering of the soil from the sun, wind, and rain, and even make an area arid. Haiti lacks food and water security, most of which traces back to the lack of good soil, which traces itself back to deforestation. Is deforestation the only cause of the lack of food and water security, no. It is a major problem that must be addressed and locals must adopt a different way of preparing meals and heating of water. Haiti, like many poor countries has access to kerosene. Kerosene was once widely used and lost favor over propane and electricity. Not only can kerosene power a refrigerator but also sto...

No doubt companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft make major impacts on their local, state, and Federal economies.  These companies hire and train specialist that command a strong economy which trickles down to other services and businesses in their areas. Haiti is behind the fence on many advancements including IT (information technology).  While there are tablet makers and wireless companies that are in the area as well as internet connections, the country is still not active online. In fact to get a domain that ends in ht which is for Haiti, it costs about $99 US, while you can get a .com, or eve a .kr (Korea) for less than $20 US.  This barrier to entry prevents the country from being online in one instance, and puts the country into obscurity.  While there are mild internet connects in the country, mainly due to wireless telephone companies and large internet towers, Haiti must improve it's IT infrastructure. Imagine the IT infrastructure on La Gonave....

Composting Facilities are critical for Haiti Currently Haiti as well as Dominican Republic are in the midst of Cholera crisis.  While this bacterial infection was caused by improper sewage dumping from UN peace keepers, it is causing massive destruction on Hispaniola.  Many people end up drinking contaminated water, which increases the illness. Proper handling of raw human sewage will prevent this situation from spreading further.  Given that there are virtually no sewage treatment plants in Haiti, this can quickly spiral out of control.  Composting human waste is the best thing that Haiti can do.  When you look at the massive cost of building a waste treatment plant, the cost of laying down sewage pipes, the lack of water, having a large scale waste treatment plant for Haiti is not in the cards.  This may change over time, but in the immediate future, composting treatment plant(s) is a solution.  These facilities are inexpensive to build, can...

La Gonave lacks water, much like many parts of Haiti, there is no water.  Ironically there is a tremendous amount of water surrounding the country.  For the most part, the sea water doesn't help the country solve the dire water conditions. One major way to fighting hunger and chronic drought is to put desalination plants on La Gonave that can be powered by solar power. Systems like the one above can produce 12,000 gallons of water per day.  These systems can serve the citizens drinking water needs.  Given that many parts of the land on La Gonave has some pollution issues from raw sewage, or bad terrain, building a small system that can pull water in from the ocean, and then pump that fresh water into a holding system is one of the best ways to have long term water solutions. Building large reservoirs in the city of Anse-a-Galets would be critical in addressing the water issue for citizens.  In fact many American cities, such as Seattle used water reservo...