michaelbiz

michaelbiz

6p

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14 years ago @ United Press Internati... - U.S. scientists study ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Another obvious conclusion is that 8/10's of Port-au-Prince has substandard housing because precarious housing is the outcome of a precarious economy, balanced at the edge of collapse when pushed by anything... quake, hurricane, coup or drought.

Haiti, lacking most of the infrastructure for self-support (as onerous loan conditions continue to be imposed by the World Bank as de facto legacy from the Duvalier's) just received new recovery loans from the W.B. under the same crippling conditions. We *use* Haiti... we exploit Haiti... and in the end, we enslave Haiti as if it were a giant stinking factory ship barely rising above a sea of substandard conditions.

My guess is that five years from now all the rotting corpses of buildings will be half-standing, and built-around and built-into by the resilient, tired and quietly angry Haitian people. Except the showpiece centres of government, a few hospitals, schools and private homes - most of the rebuilding will be done piecemeal and with limited resources.

Look next at Victoria, British Columbia and analyse how many of its buildings are "earthquake-proof" - if you wish to see the next Port-au-Prince in the making.