Sustainable National Economic
Development Plan for Haiti
I was able to convince myself to write a
sustainable national economic development plan for Haiti for one reason only: there is not
one out there that I am aware of. The operative word here is: sustainable.
Many experts did advanced researches and submitted
proposals on what they believe to be the best approach to finally put Haiti on a path to
economic development. I happen to reject almost all of their proposals on the basis that
they suggest a one-way relationship of dependence to foreign aids for Haiti and on the
basis that they are not sustainable economic development plan, just merely spending
proposals.
Trying to thoroughly define the term
‘sustainable’ requires a separate research paper to be written. Since I want to
keep this one as concise as possible, I will only say that Microsoft Corporation has
‘sustainable competitive advantage’ in the market place.
What I am saying is: do not propose an economic
development plan that raises Haiti’s national debt to $3 billions dollars for only a
meager 2% or 3% gain in the economy. Please save your breath and do not insult the
intelligence of the Haitian people.
Let me lay the following foundations if Haiti was
ever to aspire to a sustainable economic development:
Delegate moderate autonomy to all nine provincial
departments (Artibonite, Centre, Grand-Anse, Ouest, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Nord-Est, Sud, and
Sud-Est).
Open up a couple of Bank of Republic of Haiti
branches in the Diaspora (New York, Miami, Boston, and Montreal ECT). Cash flow of US
dollars is critical.
Build at least eighteen administrative buildings,
one located in each of the departmental Chef-Lieux of Haiti and secondary cities, except
Port-au-Prince
Resolve the electric power crisis. (Check my
proposal on that subject)
The foundations cited above can be implemented
rather quickly. Forgive me for being overtly optimistic. I have a dream. Make Haiti number
one in the Caribbean Community in about 17 years.
Now let me make an important distinction between
two kinds of government expenditures:
Social expenditures
Capital expenditures
Social expenditures encompass all of the
money spent in financing all of the social programs and public obligations of the state of
Haiti, for instance: free vaccination, disaster relief, free public education, salaries
for government workers, and debt servicing ECT.
Capital expenditures refer to the money
spent by the Haitian government to build roads, bridges, educational facilities, public
administration buildings, town squares and parks, amusement and recreational facilities
ECT.
It is generally believed that social expenditures
although necessary do not jumpstart economic growth. Capital expenditures, on the
contrary, generate jobs and raise revenues for the public treasury. So, a sustainable
national economic development plan in Haiti calls for a massive capital expenditure
program by the government of Haiti, thru immediate and total decentralization, coupled
with a government loan guaranteed program for prospective investors.
Sustainable economic development plan:
Preliminary:
We need to identify and enumerate Haiti’s
necessities and shortcomings. Since a necessity is not a priority, we also need to analyze
each necessity economically and prioritize them according to the following four
attributes: capital first costs, job creation potential, capital recovery time, and
overall public good.
Necessities:
Haiti needs 18 New Public Administrations
Buildings
Haiti needs 9 General Hospitals
Haiti needs 9 Public Amphitheatres / Convention
Centers
Haiti needs 9 Olympic Gymnasiums: (boxing,
volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, ECT).
Haiti needs 9 Olympic Soccer Stadiums
Haiti needs 9 National Public Libraries /
Specialized Research Centers
Haiti needs 9 Seaports coupled with a national
marine merchant fleet
Haiti needs 9 Modern State University Campuses
Haiti needs 9 Modern Departmental Court Houses
Haiti needs 9 Modern Detention Centers
Haiti needs 9 Modern Departmental Police &
Public Safety Administration Buildings.
Haiti needs 18 New Municipal Buildings
Haiti needs 9 Telephony/Telecommunications
Buildings
Haiti needs 9 Museums/Expo Galleries
Haiti needs 9 Public Asylums / Mental Hospitals
Haiti needs 9 Public Orphanages / Homeless Shelters
Haiti needs 9 Public Choreography and Art Centers
(Modern & Folklore Dance, Ballet, ECT)
Haiti needs 9 Public Sports Recreation Centers
Haiti needs 9 Garbage Disposal Plants / Recycle
Plants
Haiti needs 9 Sewage Systems (well, at least 8 as a
start)
Haiti needs 9 National Archive Buildings
Haiti needs 9 Water Reservoirs
By the number 9, I mean one in each of the
following 9 provincial major cities: Cayes, Jacmel, Jeremie, Hinche, Gonaives,
Cap-Haitien, Fort-Liberte, and Port-de-Paix & Port-au-Prince.
Economic Analyses:
Compute the estimated capital first costs for
each necessity listed above
Forecast the approximate number of jobs created
Estimate the capital recovery time
Determine overall public good for all of Haiti
Prioritization:
Now that the necessities have become public projects, we need to determine which public
project to implement first and which one to implement second and so forth – a
selective process through economic analyses.
Remember, Haiti’s resources are limited.
Consequently, these construction projects can not all be carried out simultaneously all
over the country. Therefore, a selective process is warranted. The way to prioritize is
fairly straight forward in my opinion using the four known attributes mentioned above: the
project/necessity with the least capital costs, the most number of jobs created, the
shortest estimated capital recovery time, and the best overall public good is picked as
project #1 and the one after that project #2 and so on until every project/necessity is
labeled accordingly. The public good attribute is there to facilitate the choice between
projects where all three other attributes are fairly equal.
Conclusion:
Many of the necessities listed above are pretty obvious. I carefully omitted certain
necessities like roadways and bridges because I do not believe that a road network is an
incentive for economic development but rather just another leg of the overall
transportation system inside a nation. The sustainability will emanate from the fact that
each subsequent project will add value to the project implemented before it. For instance
if a seaport is built in Jeremie first as project #1 and if a general hospital is built
subsequently as project #2 then the hospital will add value to the seaport. That way the
initial investment in the seaport can be recovered quicker. Both materials to build the
hospital and supplies for the hospital daily operations will eventually come in through
the seaport. That is sustainable economic development in a nutshell. If you do not believe
me check out the history of the seaport of New York and New Jersey and read about its
positive impact on the region economic growth for the past 200 years.
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