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DENIS O’BRIEN: Getting Haiti back on its feet
Philanthropy leads rehabilitation efforts
By Al Edwards
Friday, January 14, 2011
In 2010 Denis O'Brien, chairman of the Caribbean's leading mobile telephone service provider Digicel promised to restore the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince within a year after its destruction in the massive earthquake that shook Haiti in January of last year. True to his word,he met the deadline, signing off on one of the greatest feats of philanthropy seen in the Caribbean.
The Mellons, the Carnegies and the Rockefellers all left indelible marks on the United States with philanthropic enterprises that had a transformative impact on the country. O'Brien has done the same in Haiti.
O'Brien's accomplishment is all the more remarkable given the fact that very little progress has been made in restoring Haiti's infrastructure. Many of the donors who promised so much a year ago have to date not honoured those pledges. With over 300,000 people reported dead and over a million people living in camps, help is desperately needed. Initially US$6 billion was promised to assist in the rehabilitation of Haiti. A year on, less than a quarter of that sum has reached the country with less than 5 per cent of the 20 million cubic metres of rubble cleared. NGOs and other relief agencies are still scratching their heads as to where to begin, or how to begin for that matter.
Looking at the wonderfully restored edifice that is now the Iron Market, one is reminded of that line by Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do...."
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton who is the United Nations' Special Envoy to Haiti prophetically declared to the crowd at the ceremonial ribbon-cutting event: "When you look at what you have achieved here, this should be a sign to you that you can have success in the reconstruction in education, in healthcare."
The Iron Market
Le Marche Hyppolite de Port-au-Prince, otherwise known as the Iron Marke,t is the first public building to be have been completely restored since the devastating 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on January 12th, 2010. The entire reconstruction of the Iron Market was completed in just eleven months.
Decimated by a 2008 fire and the earthquake last year, the Iron Market was built in 1891 in Paris. It was originally intended for a station in Cairo but was brought by Haitian President Florvil Hyppolite when the Egyptian deal fell through.
The rebuilding project was funded and spearheaded by Denis O'Brien and his wife Catherine in a personal capacity and is valued at US$12 million. It is estimated that over 900 vendors will operate from the new Iron Market building selling arts and crafts, fruit and vegetables, dry produce- many of these had stands in the Iron Market for years prior to the horrendous devastaion of last year. There are plans to extend the market to accommodate meat selling.
"The Iron Market in Port-au-Prince is a cultural, historic and architectural landmark in Haiti. A hive of economic activity; a place where hard-working men and women earn a living buying and selling goods; the economic engine for so many families - the Iron Market is as important as a social and community entity as it is as a place of trade.
"The project to rebuild the Iron Market back to its former glory is more far-reaching than an architectural achievement. It is an important symbol of the start of the country's recovery from the devastation and a window to a brighter future for the Haitian people. I would like to thank the many wonderful people who helped to bring the Iron Market back to its former glory: the Mayor of Port-au-Prince Muscadin Jean Yves Jason and Daniel Elie, Director of ISPAN, John McAslan and Partners (architects on the project),Phillippe Dodard and the Croix-des-Bouquets iron workers,John Milton, George Howard and Fiona McGloin and the site workers, and of course the vendors who have supported us throughout. Your collective positivity and tenacity has made our dreams and visions a reality .
"What you have achieved in less than a year is awe-inspiring and stands as a symbol of hope for the future - and as an example of what can be achieved in Haiti with the right focus, drive and determination. Even in the midst of all the hardship that the Haitian people face day in, day out, I firmly believe that if we pull together today, there is a better tomorrow for Haiti," said O'Brien.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/busin...#ixzz1B028VU9h
Philanthropy leads rehabilitation efforts
By Al Edwards
Friday, January 14, 2011
In 2010 Denis O'Brien, chairman of the Caribbean's leading mobile telephone service provider Digicel promised to restore the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince within a year after its destruction in the massive earthquake that shook Haiti in January of last year. True to his word,he met the deadline, signing off on one of the greatest feats of philanthropy seen in the Caribbean.
The Mellons, the Carnegies and the Rockefellers all left indelible marks on the United States with philanthropic enterprises that had a transformative impact on the country. O'Brien has done the same in Haiti.
O'Brien's accomplishment is all the more remarkable given the fact that very little progress has been made in restoring Haiti's infrastructure. Many of the donors who promised so much a year ago have to date not honoured those pledges. With over 300,000 people reported dead and over a million people living in camps, help is desperately needed. Initially US$6 billion was promised to assist in the rehabilitation of Haiti. A year on, less than a quarter of that sum has reached the country with less than 5 per cent of the 20 million cubic metres of rubble cleared. NGOs and other relief agencies are still scratching their heads as to where to begin, or how to begin for that matter.
Looking at the wonderfully restored edifice that is now the Iron Market, one is reminded of that line by Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do...."
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton who is the United Nations' Special Envoy to Haiti prophetically declared to the crowd at the ceremonial ribbon-cutting event: "When you look at what you have achieved here, this should be a sign to you that you can have success in the reconstruction in education, in healthcare."
The Iron Market
Le Marche Hyppolite de Port-au-Prince, otherwise known as the Iron Marke,t is the first public building to be have been completely restored since the devastating 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on January 12th, 2010. The entire reconstruction of the Iron Market was completed in just eleven months.
Decimated by a 2008 fire and the earthquake last year, the Iron Market was built in 1891 in Paris. It was originally intended for a station in Cairo but was brought by Haitian President Florvil Hyppolite when the Egyptian deal fell through.
The rebuilding project was funded and spearheaded by Denis O'Brien and his wife Catherine in a personal capacity and is valued at US$12 million. It is estimated that over 900 vendors will operate from the new Iron Market building selling arts and crafts, fruit and vegetables, dry produce- many of these had stands in the Iron Market for years prior to the horrendous devastaion of last year. There are plans to extend the market to accommodate meat selling.
"The Iron Market in Port-au-Prince is a cultural, historic and architectural landmark in Haiti. A hive of economic activity; a place where hard-working men and women earn a living buying and selling goods; the economic engine for so many families - the Iron Market is as important as a social and community entity as it is as a place of trade.
"The project to rebuild the Iron Market back to its former glory is more far-reaching than an architectural achievement. It is an important symbol of the start of the country's recovery from the devastation and a window to a brighter future for the Haitian people. I would like to thank the many wonderful people who helped to bring the Iron Market back to its former glory: the Mayor of Port-au-Prince Muscadin Jean Yves Jason and Daniel Elie, Director of ISPAN, John McAslan and Partners (architects on the project),Phillippe Dodard and the Croix-des-Bouquets iron workers,John Milton, George Howard and Fiona McGloin and the site workers, and of course the vendors who have supported us throughout. Your collective positivity and tenacity has made our dreams and visions a reality .
"What you have achieved in less than a year is awe-inspiring and stands as a symbol of hope for the future - and as an example of what can be achieved in Haiti with the right focus, drive and determination. Even in the midst of all the hardship that the Haitian people face day in, day out, I firmly believe that if we pull together today, there is a better tomorrow for Haiti," said O'Brien.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/busin...#ixzz1B028VU9h
