BY
JACQUELINE CHARLES
Ten
months after Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, Thomas
Adams was plucked out of retirement by then-U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and named special coordinator for Haiti. He came into
the job with a 35-year career in the U.S. government, much of it
focused on managing foreign assistance. In August, Adams, 66, will
step down from the role and former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth
Merten will take the reins of overseeing U.S. government engagement.
Last
week, Adams stopped in Miami, at the invitation of Haitian Americans
for Progress and the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida,
to meet with members of the Haitian diaspora. He sat down with the
Miami Herald to discuss Haiti’s post-quake progress, its upcoming
legislative, local and presidential elections and the final year of
President Michel Martelly’s five-year term.
What
was the purpose of this recent trip?
My
main reason for going down there was to have a meeting on Caracol
Industrial Park,
which I do quarterly. It’s doing well. There is more
demand for space there
than we have and there are plans to build more buildings and take
advantage of that interest in investing in Haiti.
Can
you highlight some of the progress in Haiti since the quake?
The
tent camps that used to fill every available space are gone. The
rubble’s gone. There are other [signs of] progress. In health,
there are good outcomes. The police have grown in capacity and
professionalism. Crime rates have gone down. There is a lot that’s
been done there; at the same time, there is a lot that didn’t get
done due primarily to political gridlock.
What
is the impact of the political gridlock?
The
political gridlock has been almost from day one of the Martelly
administration. He and the parliament have not seen eye-to-eye on
many things and that’s prevented lots of legislation that the
country needs from getting through; things that would, say, deal with
property rights, new criminal codes. A lot of things that Haiti needs
to make it more business friendly, like electronic signatures, things
like that have not gotten done. I think that this election will break
some of that gridlock and allow some of this to occur.
There
is a lot of speculation about whether the elections will happen this
year?
Our
main thrust for the past few years has been to get these overdue
elections done, and that’s on track. They will happen this year.
There is a lot of aspects to that going on over the
registration of candidates,
and the preparations because the CEP [Provisional Electoral Council]
is only a couple of months old. They are playing catch up.
Are
others in the international community optimistic about elections
happening?
Everybody
says we can do it. I talked to the elections people at the U.N. They
said, “Yes, we agree we can manage the current three dates; we can
handle security issues.” There’s planning going on. They are
bringing in some additional resources. There will be more contracting
this time because as you know the United Nations had about 13,000
police and troops last time and will be around 5,000 this time. They
can’t do as much as they did last elections. But there is a lot of
planning. Nobody I talked to said that the elections will not occur
on schedule.
Some
in Haiti accuse the international community of wanting a transition
rather than elections. What is the U.S.’s position?
We
come down on the side of elections. The constitution stipulates
elections and it does not have a provision for a transitional
government. I have heard the rumor, too, and I am astounded. We have
pushed very hard for the last two years to have these elections. And
for people to now turn around and say, ‘You now no longer want to
have those elections,’ I don’t understand where that is coming
from frankly.
What
is the cost of the elections?
They’re
still coming up with estimates; they are very close on that.
How
important will the Haiti National Police’s (HNP) role be?
The
HNP will have to play a greater role in these election than perhaps
they have played in others. One of the things we’re doing through
our law enforcement programs is help them get ready. For example, the
police have not had funding for spare parts for automobiles this
year, so we’re going to help buy them spare parts to help get an
estimated 300 of the vehicles that are broken. We want to try and get
at least 200 of them back on the road so they can have the necessary
mobility during the elections.
How
large is the election shortfall?
Depending
on various factors, the gap could be somewhere between $18 million
and $30 million, maybe a little, a little less.
How
is the Provisional Electoral Council doing?
So
far, they’re scrambling but they seem to be keeping their head
above water. And we, of course, want to support them. This is the
Haitians’ elections. We’re just there to support it; it’s not
our elections.
Do
you see elections happening this year?
Oh
yeah, definitely. There are some ideas going around to perhaps narrow
the budget gap; there’s some discussion about going to two rounds
of elections instead of three. The pros and cons of that, I think
they’ll decide fairly soon whether they want to do that. That would
give a little more time to the CEP and it would also save some money
if they want to go that route. That is an option.
What
should Martelly’s priorities be in his final year?
He
can do a lot without new legislation. He has indicated he does not
want to use his emergency decree powers broadly; he basically just
wants to use them for elections, which he has done, and let
everything else wait until there is a new parliament, which I think
is wise on his part. But be that as it may, you can still move
forward on things like .. vetting judges; you can increase government
revenue through better tax administration; you can more forcefully
address corruption. You have to deal with international issues like
the Dominican migration issue. I think there is plenty he can do in
his final year in office.
There
was recently a march against impunity in Haiti, which was prompted by
the release ofaccused kidnapper Woodly Ethéart, aka
Sonson Lafamilia.
Is the U.S. still closely watching this case?
We
have spoken out and believe that this judicial appeals process needs
to happen rapidly and the best thing to do is to get these guys back
in jail and let the judicial process of a trial take place.
The
U.S. has been very concerned about the prospect of mass deportation
of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian origin from the Dominican
Republic into Haiti as of mid-June. Where does this stand?
The
announcement by the Dominican government that there will be no mass
deportations, the fact that they will wait at least 45 days from the
middle of July to allow all of the ... cases to be processed ... I
think this is heading in the right direction. The diplomatic efforts
need to continue on both sides so that any deportations are done in
accordance with international law and in a humanitarian fashion. The
Dominican Republic, just like the United States, has a right to
deport illegal migrants, but they’ve got to do it in accordance
with international law and standards, and I think the Dominicans have
pledged to do that.
How
would you sum up your Haiti experience?
I
was very lucky to be asked to be the Haiti coordinator by the
Secretary of State. I’ve had a great staff and got to meet a lot of
Haitians who are working hard to improve things in their country; a
lot of Haitian Americans who are interested in this. There has been
progress. I think all of us look back and wish there had been more at
times, but we all knew going in that Haiti was not some quick fix.
Haiti’s been declining for 40 or more years in many ways, certainly
economically, and to turn that around, it’s going to take a while.
What
is the biggest challenge?
To
get economic growth there. Haiti has had positive economic growth
since the earthquake. Before the earthquake it had slightly negative
growth rate. And it’s been turned positive, but it’s 3, 4 percent
a year and to eradicate poverty, you really need 7 percent or more.
That’s the goal that has to be sought and hopefully with the
political gridlock broken, you’ll see the government of Haiti take
steps to increase the pace of economic growth.
Haiti
expert and George Washington University professor Robert
Maguire recently
wrote that
not much has changed in Haiti under Martelly and the country risks
having its future look like its past.
Haiti’s
future doesn’t have to look like its past. And I think that will be
the case ultimately.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article22143408.html#storylink=cpy
