This is interesting
- The Board of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private-sector arm, is in the final stages of approval for a loan for development of the first of a series of proposed free trade zones along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Several local NGOs have raised serious concerns over the proposed project's impact on farmers' livelihoods and the environment.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $43 million. The proposed IFC financing consists of a $20 million loan for Dominican clothing manufacturer Grupo M and $3 million to the Haiti Project development company. Grupo M is the largest apparel producer in the Caribbean/Central American region supplying to major US companies including Liz Claiborne, Polo, Levis, Hanes and Tommy Hilfiger. The company has won awards for labour practice and corporate citizenship.
The Maribahoux Plain, site of the development, is one of Haiti's most fertile agricultural regions with production capacity to feed half a million people. Taking this land out of food production is being questioned at a time when the FAO says that a "silent food crisis is looming in Haiti".
Compensation for expropriated lands
In a response to the NGO Haiti Support Group (HSG), Brian McNamara of the IFC says he recognizes "that some resentment and confusion has been generated as a result of the government's aquisition of the land for the industrial zone." The Environmental Review Summary, released 12 August, states that project consultants and a local NGO are searching for land for smaller farmers and sharecroppers who want it. For those seeking financial compensation, the Social Compensation Plan contends that payment will be made at a meeting at the end of August.
at http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/trade/2003/0819haiti.htm
- Grupo M:
Project number 20744
Project name Grupo M
Country Dominican Republic
Sector Textiles, Apparel & Leather
Department Global Manufacturing & Services
Company name Grupo M
Environmental category B
Date SPI disclosed May 1, 2003
Projected board date June 12, 2003
Status Pending Disbursement
Previous Events Signed: January 16, 2004
Approved: October 9, 2003
at http://ifcln001.worldbank.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/0/9f06d27d61b3152a85256d19006a63f1?OpenDocument
More on Grupo M:
“Then, the next day, at nine in the morning, when I was working at my machine, I saw the same two men coming towards me. They were armed with a machete and a metal pipe, and said they were now coming after me because I was number two in the union. I escaped by jumping over three machines and running up to the personnel office on the second floor. Imagine. It isn’t easy to get away when you are in a closed factory.
“I thought I’d be safe in the office; but they called Ali Corona, the second-in-command of Grupo M security. He knocked on the door but I wouldn’t let him in because I thought the guys were still outside. Then I opened the door a little and this massive man smashed his way in. He had a .45 pistol. He lifted me up and hit me on the neck with the pistol. And then he handcuffed me.”
at http://www.labournet.net/world/0309/haiti2.html
- Haitian free trade zone: Aristide's "different" capitalism is the same old story.
"They" is the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, for decades labeled "firebrand" and "radical" by enemies and supporters alike. Yet this same Aristide is leading the charge to set up a new industrial park on one of the few irrigated plains in the arid northeast. It is the first of 14 projected free trade zones Aristide's administration and the parliament--controlled by his Lavalas party--have in the works. As elsewhere, these zones will offer investors cheap infrastructure, extended tax holidays, easy repatriation of profits, and--in Haiti--the lowest wages in the hemisphere.
at http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2548/2002_Nov-Dec/95056815/p1/article.jhtml
It looks like Aristide has been seriously pushing the Haiti Free Trade Zone. I'm now wondering if this is one reason driving this revolution.