Is Haiti still habitable?
By Luke Onyekakeyah
THE catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has brought to the fore concerns about the continued habitation of people on the dangerous Haitian tip of the Hispaniola Island in the Caribbean Sea. Though, two countries share the Island, namely: Dominican Republic and Haiti, the Haitian part appears to be more exposed and most vulnerable. That explains why Haitians regularly nurse wounds suffered from one natural disaster or the other. And, of course, that largely explains why the country is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
How can Haiti be rich when almost on annual basis one disaster or the other occurs to wipe out whatever the people have acquired? When the rate of removal is greater than the rate of accumulation, there is no way an average Haitian would have anything left. That is a natural principle. But that is the unfortunate fate that has befallen Haiti and its people over the ages. But some element of rationality needs to be applied by the global community together with the Haitians to find a way out.
According to reports, the devastating temblor rattled the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince at about 16.53 local time on the fateful day and left the city almost levelled. The damage was staggering because the quake epicenter was situated about 25 km (16 miles) west of the city at a depth of 13 km (8.1 miles). The U.S. Geological Survey recorded at least 33 aftershocks with some magnitudes 5.0. One aftershock measuring 6.1 rocked the city amid the ruins and humanitarian action. Estimates put the figure of those affected at three million. The Haitian Interior Minister, Paul Antoine estimated the casualty figure at between 100,000 and 200,000 lives. Thousands of the dead were buried in mass graves. Experts say, the quakes was the strongest to hit Haiti since 1770, when a magnitude 8.1 tremor rocked Hispaniola and generated a tsunami that claimed 1,790 lives.
The earthquake caused widespread damage to Port-au-Prince and its environs. Some important landmarks in the city were destroyed. The magnificent Presidential Palace was damaged and so was the National Assembly building, the City’s Cathedral and the main jail. Among the casualty were Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, the Justice Minister and the Head of the United Nations (UN) Mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi. The damage to infrastructure was tremendous. The city’s communication system, electricity, the airport, the land and sea transportation system were damaged, which hampered the search and rescue operation.
Many countries have in the wake of the disaster rallied to provide succour. Aid has poured in from different countries including the United States, Cuba, Venezuela, among many others. But this is not the first time that the world is rallying in support of Haiti in disaster. And this may not be the last time. That puts the difficult question of what should be done to save Haiti once and for all. Otherwise how long would it take before another disaster devastates Haiti and the world would be put on its toes?
The history of man on earth is a history of migration and human settlement. From time immemorial, humankind has been on the move. Humans have always migrated from one part of the earth to the other. The push factors include all the uncomfortable factors in the environment while the pull factors are the attractions beckoning at a new location. From ancient times, what determines where men chose to settle is hospitability. That is the ability of a place to provide man with what he needs to live a comfortable life. The ancestors of man were very discernible in choosing where to settle down.
For instance, before men settled in any place, they would ensure that it had food, water, secure from human and natural disasters, among other things. In all this, survival is the key word. The ancients never made the mistake of settling in places where their offspring and descendants would be wiped out by known or unknown forces. Once there was an indication that a settlement was under threat in any way, that settlement was quickly abandoned and the men moved en masse to a new and more comfortable location.
Not all parts of the earth should be inhabited. There are many uninhabited parts of the earth. Equally, there are many uninhabited islands around the world. Places like the tundra areas of North America and Eurasia, the mountainous regions, the Amazon jungle are largely uninhabited. Among the major reasons why such islands are not inhabited is their harsh condition.
Against the backdrop of the enduring principle of migration, the question arises as to the rationale for a human settlement in a place like Haiti with its notoriety for frequent occurrence of natural disasters. With a long history of devastating earthquakes, disastrous tsunamis, damaging hurricanes, etc, why did the first Haitians settle in such a highly vulnerable place against all odds? What were the attractions? What made the endangered people not to vacate the island en masse?
Hispaniola, the Caribbean island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic is seismically active. The island has a long history of destructive earthquakes. As far back as 1751, the French historian, Moreu de Saint-Mery described a destructive earthquake that leveled buildings in Haiti. The 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake literally caused the whole city to collapse. In May 1842, another earthquake struck that destroyed most parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The most recent natural disasters that have raged include an unnamed storm that killed more than 2000 people in 1935. In 1946, the largest recorded 8.1 magnitude earthquake rocked both Haiti and the Dominican Republic killing 1,790 people. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel left a swath of destruction after killing over 100 people. The 1963 Hurricane Flora claimed over 8000 lives, making it one of the most deadly hurricanes ever. In 1994, Hurricane Gordon claimed more than 1000 lives. Hurricane George killed more than 400 people in 1998 and Tropical Storm Jeanne caused a major deluge that aggravated landslides and severe flooding that left 2,500 people dead. The litany of deaths, destruction and anguish in Haiti is unending. As it were, the country is literally under siege by terrestrial and subterranean forces. There are few countries that have suffered the onslaught of blind natural forces like Haiti.
Haiti is a historical consequence of the trans Atlantic slave trade. The ancestors of the red Indians (Native Americans) who occupied the Americas migrated from Asia probably across the frozen Bering Strait bordering Alaska into America. That was some 30,000 years ago. They occupied the mainland while most of the islands were uninhabited. The trans Atlantic slave trade opened new frontiers in the American hemisphere thereby leading to the discovery of the Caribbean islands including Haiti.
The quest for sugarcane wealth, which was then a lucrative commodity, made the European slave dealers to import slaves from Africa into Haiti and the other islands. The British first occupied Haiti but later ceded it to the French. The harsh condition on the island killed many of the slaves but the French imported more. There were series of events that led to one revolt after another until in 1804, when Toussaint L’Ouverture, a self-educated former slave led the revolt that earned Haiti its independence. That was how Haiti became the first Black Country to gain independence.
From the foregoing, it is clear that the people of Haiti were not on the vulnerable island by choice but by the greed of European slave dealers. Being slaves at the time, who were struggling to get freedom, they had little or no choice to leave the island even in the midst of disaster. The people were forced to live in Haiti, arguably, against their will. They were in a way tied without opportunity to decide for themselves. It is difficult at this time to think of relocating the entire country of over eight million people to a safer territory. That, absolutely, is what might be good for Haiti. But where do you relocate the people? That is the critical question.
We live in a troubled world. In this age of terrorism, anxiety pervades the world. The 9/11 incident in New York that shook the entire world, the Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami, wars and severe economic crises, among others have shaken even the most stable nations. Practically, no day passes without news of heart-breaking incidents in one part of the world or the other. Despite all the available technology, the modern man is stressed and vulnerable. When all this are added to unpredictable natural disasters, it is clear that the people of Haiti are definitely biting more than they can chew. The United Nations, the U.S., the European Union should think of how to save Haiti from further natural disasters
February 2, 2010
Tags: earthquake, Haiti Posted in: Luke Onyekakeyah
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