When Lightning Strikes: Thoughts About Haiti's Earthquake

When disasters occur, such as this week's massive earthquake in Haiti, many of us reflect on what we would do in similar circumstances, and what we can do as those fortunate to not be in such circumstances.

Haiti, we know, is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and it is in our backyard. On world scales, it is not the poorest and most disadvantaged of countries, but to most of us it is about the lowest we will know and see up close. One of its problems is that for two centuries it has gone through difficult economic and political times. I am not going to rehash Haiti's history here, but it has left a legacy which will be staring it in the face as it tries to get over this disaster. Failed government; malfunctioning infrastructure; damaged economy; angry people. These are not the ingredients for success. But, the world will rally and try its best to help and hope that the disaster does not happen again, and better still not soon.

My direct connections with Haiti are few, but I have friends who have Haitian roots. I can hear in their tones and see in their words the pain that comes from knowing that 'your country' is going through Hell. But what to do? In discussing this briefly last night, it seemed clear that besides offering financial aid, most of us could do little. I have an urge to go and help claw away rubble and maybe help find bodies. But, I know too that my willingness is not enough in such situations. I can easily be a hindrance, with my almost total lack of knowledge--apart from being able to speak French--of where I would be and what really is going on. But, if I could find a way to be there and help I would feel better than just looking on. I heard discussions of how best to get over the initial problems of this disaster, and much thought was being given to whether it should be an effort led by military personnel or by aid agencies. The conclusion was that this was an operation to be led by the military, for various logistical reasons, and that away from the country, much could be done and coordinated by aid agencies.

Most of us in the Caribbean think of our disasters in terms of weather-related events, such as hurricanes. But earthquakes are different. They cannot really be predicted with much accuracy, though one can know of their likelihood because of where the Earth's fault lines are: as the media are now reminding us, there is a Pacific Ocean 'ring of fire' (see link), which covers the tectonic plates covering both sides of the Pacific Ocean, and stretches through central America to the Caribbean Sea. So, it is hard to prepare for earthquakes, other than building appropriately and being aware of their occurrences: they do not happen with equal frequency and do not have seasons. When your country's last experience of something is 100-200 years ago, it's hard to expect people to know what to do. Looking back to Jamaica's history, many people talk about the 1907 earthquake, but we can see that the timing of disasters has its own rhythm (see Gleaner summary). Kingston was rebuilt to be able to withstand another earthquake. But, generally, as we know, even if the prospect of disaster is annual, as with hurricanes, we still do nothing till it's very late.

We should all send out hope to Haiti, at the very least, and those who have prayers to send should keep those flowing. Money. Time. Clothes. Other assistance. If you have it, try to share it. Former President Clinton, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, yesterday appealed to the public to support programs that will provide food, water, shelter and medical supplies to the impoverished country: "The most important thing you can do is not to send those supplies, but to send cash," to relief agencies. As we are often told, but often ignore, we never know if disaster will strike us next.

Fire At BICO Headquarters: Lessons To Learn

BICO's factory in Fontbelle, Bridgetown, suffered a major fire, which started last night and lasted more than two hours (see Nation report). The factory makes ice-cream.

Chief executive officer, Edwin Thirlwell, said as far as he knew it was the first fire to hit the company since its opening on Bay Street in 1901.

At least nine fire tenders from Bridgetown and other areas battled the blaze, finding the billowing smoke and the absence of hydrants on the property among the challenges. Reports indicate help was also provided by C.O. Williams.

BICO's public relations company, Redd Advertising, stated that employees of the company have been asked to gather in the car park of Cricket Legends of Barbados, at Herbert House, Fontabelle, at 8 a.m. tomorrow for an update on the company's next steps.

The fire will mean immediate loss of work for the employees and we will have to see when and if production can be resumed. The economy does not need another blow to jobs. If jobs are lost for good then it will be hard to lick this recession.

This is another major fire in recent weeks where the absence of fire prevention apparatus was noticeable. Is that the fault of management or of government industrial overseers? Once again, a horse to be chased after it has bolted from the stable. Must it take a crisis to bring common sense actions?
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Last week, historical books and papers--many irreplaceable--valued at B$ 2 million were lost in a fire at the Israel Lovell Foundation. Reports indicate that the material was both uninsured and unscanned (see Barbados Free Press report).

Hal Austin, a Barbadian who is the Senior Editor of the Financial Times Group in London, negotiated with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). They were moving to an electronic system, and offered these books to Barbados through the Israel Lovell Foundation. The material included Caribbean literature, research and documentaries on leaders from the US Britain, Europe and Africa

The books were being housed in a block at the nearby St. Giles Nursery School, at My Lords Hill St. Michael (see CBC report). According to reports the entire block was ravaged.

Sources at the Foundation said they had been planning to buy containers to set up a public library. Too little and far too late for these historical assets.

My head hurts: Do we need American Airlines so badly?

I am always suspicious about figures to do with the "benefits" of tourism. One of my big beefs is that the accounting is a bit skewed; we hear about the money coming in but do not look at the tourism-related money that goes out in many forms.

When I read stories such at the recent ones covering the Jamaican government's guarantee to American Airlines to continue flying to the island (see Gleaner report), I scratch my head. I want to watch the pin-head dancing to explain why money cannot be given to Air Jamaica to support it--not that I am in favour of that, just that I want to hear the arguments--but money can be found (US$ 4.5 million), lickety spit, for a foreign airline. I know that a lot of the tourism industry is supported by various forms of subsidies from government to hotels and airlines to keep up visitor numbers, so am always intrigued at what is the true net gain from all those visitors, when one strips away the headlines of "visitor arrivals increase", "tourism major foreign exchange earner", etc., remembering that a lot of the foreign exchange then goes back abroad. So, I sympathize with Paul Pennicock's (Air Jamaica, vice president-marketing) finger pointing at the goverment: he should know what he's dealing with, given that he was formerly the government's director of tourism. So real carefully what the Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, is ready to pay for:

Under the deal, AA will not fly its planes into Jamaica if less than 65 per cent of the seats are taken up. However, if the aircraft is more than 65 per cent full but less than 75 per cent, Jamaica will be required to pay the 10 per cent revenue that the airline would lose. [I presume that Jamaica pays whatever is the actual difference between 65 and 75 percent, which could be only 1 percent.]

Minister Bartlett said, "that was a small price to pay for a deal that will see American making 19 new flights to Jamaica each week with the possibility that approximately 156,000 more visitors could make their way to the island over the 12 months."

He added, "This will earn more than US$96 million for Jamaica with the Tourism Enhancement Fund, which is financing the deal, earning US$1.2 million over the period. Even if you were to pay the US$4.5 million, look at the value of the thing."

That sounds like good leverage of government money, but is it the whole story? From another stance, I know a lot of people, who if given a share of the nearly US$ 5 million in their own pockets, would be happy to find their own way to Jamaica, without American Airlines.

Anyway, a lot more explaining needs to be done. Jamaica has invested a lot into tourism, and with more rooms coming available when major American airlines are raising fares and passenger fees due to much higher fuel costs--though crude oil prices fallen fast in recent weeks from near US$150 to around US$110 a barrel--and threatening to cut schedule flights to the Caribbean, the government may feel the squeeze on its proverbial private parts.

Governments are elected and then decide priorities. Governments are also in place to make decisions for the benefit of the population. These decisions are made from a very difficult set of conflicting demands, and the demands are never ending.

I know a lot of people in Jamaica who don't want to see money bogged down in some bureaucratic process to stop the funding to rebuild Bog Walk Gorge--again (see some comments in The Observer)!Or, better still, find a way to make a route that is more suitable for the heavy traffic that this single available route offers. Do the people only have pipe dreams?

People are also wondering while they wander across the new Hope River Bridge--the old bridge was washed away this week by Tropical Storm Gustav, and its torrent of rain. Tropical storms and hurricanes are also annual visitors that need to be accommodated. Is there hope for those people? They will be very cross if they have to keep crossing by this new Bailey bridge (or is it barely a bridge?).

People in Jamaica are also experiencing a different kind of tube riding than is familiar to some of the visitors from London or those Americans accustomed to tubing down fast flowing rivers on vacation.

These are the crosses that we have to bear. But, don't cross the people too many times.

Suffering fools gladly.

A Jamaican friend shared with me a story in the Gleaner of September 2 (see report), that points out how my peeps are dealing with the ravages of tropical storm Gustav. I'm sure that people will remember for a while the image alongside of the lady being carried over the river like she was on the back of St. Christopher. Cost? J$200 for the ride (US$2.75). But really a priceless experience. Better than a bobsled ride on Mystic Mountain, near Ocho Rios? I'm sure there was also someone nearby offering to clean the lady's clothes, and maybe redo her braids. Anyway, she had some stories to tell when she reached her job. Puts a new meaning to hill and gully riding.

A word to the International Olympic Committee. If the Games can have synchronized swimming why can't they have piggyback riding? Very simple event and it probably needs no instant review. We could include irritating judging based on opinions on artistic interpretation--imagine piggybacking and dancing "Nah linga". But, IOC, are you afraid that Jamaicans will bolt to the lead in this event too?

The image of another lady having her legs wiped off with disinfectant and then reportedly having lotion applied, after she had waded through muddy river water, will also be an image that should last for the ages. Cost of that "treatment"? J$20 (about US 30 cents). Another priceless experience? Better than an afternoon at the spa at Barbados' Sandy Lane or Kingston's Jencare? In the US, this would probably have led to a law suit for sexual assault. Someone in Jamrock may see the opportunity to offer this kind of service on a wider basis and have "bus stop spas" dotted around key points in the city, such as Half Way Tree. Why not offer a mani-pedi or facial freshen up after having to rub up against Marvin and Martha on a bus in the heat of the day? I give the ideas for free.

It is a well known fact that we in the Caribbean are creative people, and know how to deal with a range of adversities. Nothing against Americans and not belittling those in New Orleans at this time, but when they get hit by some natural disaster, it quickly takes on the proportion of international disaster and we all hear how "dem a suffa". When year after year we in the Caribbean live under the multiple beatings of tropical storms and hurricanes and volcano eruptions, we get barely a "Oh, look at those poor people where we took our beach holiday, John." Sure, we have fewer people at risk and ironically because we are poorer and less developed, the value of property damage is much less, but "we a suffa bad too".

We move on and try to make the most of life's daily challenges, and put a lot of trust in God. Meanwhile, we batten down hope that we have all of our loved ones safe during the oncoming onslaught of tropical storms and hurricanes: Ike is coming, and Josephine is forming (see names for 2008 and beyond).

Fire at McBride Caribbean

A major chemical fire started early this morning at the McBride Caribbean factory in Lowlands, Christ Church. As background, McBride's is the Caribbean's largest manufacturer of aerosol products and is part of the Goddard Enterprise Limited (see picture of fire, courtesy of The Nation, with inset picture of Martin Pritchard, Managing Director of Goddard Enterprises Ltd). Early news reports indicated that the fire was being bought under control, but that residents in a 3 mile radius had been asked to evacuate. A respiratory alert has been issued in this area advising persons to be on guard against any skin or respiratory ailments. Rather than repeat what others are reporting about the chemical fire, I will point to some good initial coverage on Bajan Reporter (see link), Barbados Underground, and Caribbean Broadcasting Company (see link).

Lessons from America? Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

When we look at America, especially a place like New York City, we tend to see a place where the constant motto is "It can be done and quickly". We got a vivid reminder of what that 24/7, never sleep, always ready aspect can mean, when we needed help to get into our apartment; within 30 minutes of calling a locksmith had raised himself from his sleep to come to let us in. The cost was less than a night in a hotel, no major crisis arose, and once again we ask ourselves if we can get the same approach in our Caribbean homelands. Barbados saw some of this readiness when a rescue team from Miami rushed to Barbados within hours to help with the problem of the apartment building that collapsed at the weekend.

But we know that this approach in the US does not make them immune from problems on a personal or national level, and not everything moves rapidly. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the US's worst natural disaster; a tragedy from which New Orleans, other parts of Louisana, and America in general is still trying to rebuild physically and emotionally. Here, however, we see also an aspect of the US that will surprise: the progress of recovery seems to have been moving at a snail's pace. Fingers are pointed in many directions and the frustrations of those on the ground are very high and real. Are the various layers of government the problem? There still seems to be an astonishing lack of agreement between agencies about what to do. President Bush stands by statements that money is available, yet it seems not to be flowing. New Orleans Mayor, Ray Nagin, now sees the problems rising before his eyes as a new homeless "camp" is developing in front of City Hall. Homelessness has reportedly doubled since Katrina; rents have gone up by 30%. The problems are many and complex.

Disasters stretch humans and organizations to their limits, and often have a way of accelerating action and policy changes, but they also dash people's hopes and test their faith. As Barbados passes through a short period when a string of disasters have struck the island during the month of August alone--especially two tragic road accidents and last weekend an apartment building collapsing--many will be looking to see how government responds and what changes will be proposed and actually made. People also look to see whether these disasters reflect lack of action on the part of agencies or individuals. Will we see doors closing after the horses have bolted? It's too early to know how people's hopes and faith will be affected, whether they will have to endure frustrations and see slow progress in dealing with the problems. In this important, though limited area, let's see who between the US and Barbados can be the better teacher and learns lessons well.

Off the island: Britton Hill disaster

I left Barbados on Saturday and was not planning to blog for a few days. But I have read the news yesterday of an apartment collapsing into a cave in Brittons Hill, and five members of a family missing. I will point you to Barbados Free Press, Barbados Underground, and other blogs for up to the moment reports, which so far seem very thorough.

Sending prayers to those involved and those trying to help.