Pincott embarks on Haiti mission to consult with local governments on reconstruction efforts

Next week promises to provide an eye-opening experience for Coun. Brian Pincott.
As the city’s representative to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Pincott leaves Monday for a 13-day trip to Haiti, where he will consult with local governments on reconstruction efforts.
“We are working to help local governments down there put governance processes in place and build resilience so they can manage their own affairs,” he said.
“We do this far too often where we go build a water plant but we don’t actually put the processes in place for the locals to manage the water plant and make sure it keeps going.
“We don’t put processes in place so they can build it themselves, that’s what we’re doing.”
This is the start of a five-year municipal co-operation program between the FCM and Haiti.
“I’m going to be working with the locals to basically set out what we hope to accomplish over the next five years,” he said adding work has been ongoing around revenue generation.
“The municipal government has no control over revenue, so we worked with them to help them set up a billboard tax because they were relying completely on the federal government giving them money. “Working out things like keeping street lights operating, really basic stuff, and the goal is to build resilience so they can start taking care of it themselves so they’re not constantly looking to the federal government or foreign governments.”
Pincott was chosen as he is fluent in French, the predominant language in Haiti. He will be based in the capital of Port-au-Prince and work with five surrounding towns known as Région des Palmes.
It’s being funded by the city of Montreal, Union of Quebec Municipalities, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the FCM.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/03/11/pincott-embarks-on-haiti-mission-to-consult-with-local-governments-on-reconstruction-efforts