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Haiti update: Pace of reconstruction slow
The previous administration of President Rene Preval was crippled by the collapse of government buildings and showed little leadership in the aftermath. The election that brought Martelly to power was marred with irregularities and riots that paralyzed the capital. It took the politically inexperienced Martelly six months to install a prime minister because rival lawmakers rejected his initial two picks.
Against that backdrop were the high expectations fostered by international partners, including Clinton, who promised that Haiti would not come back as the same beleaguered nation. Instead, education, health, energy, agriculture sectors and infrastructure all would be overhauled, like starting a country from scratch.
The administration of Martelly, a former musician, abounds with ambition. His prime minister, Garry Conille, told Parliament Monday that the government wants to enroll another 1 million children in school this year, plant trees to stop decades of deforestation and improve health care.
Conille calls 2012 “a year of construction.”
But the efforts to create a new country so far have been met with frustration.
Lawmakers have grumbled that they witness little happening.
Camp dwellers have demonstrated against the lack of housing and the evictions that have pushed them elsewhere. Others are exasperated over news of billions of dollars in aid that yields few visible results, large or small.
Nicolas Pierre, a 55-year-old farmer in the foggy mountains above Port-au-Prince, is still waiting for the president to make good on his promise of free transport for school children.
