Published On:Thursday, January 14, 2010

By TANEKA

THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

tthompson@

tribunemedia.net

THE earthquake that rocked Haiti is a major setback to the redevelopment of its meagre economy and tourism industry, said a human rights activist.

Elizier Regnier, a Bahamian attorney of Haitian descent, described how the country was regaining stability after years of turmoil.

He said: "It's really a tragedy given the fact that there was some recent progress in the country, especially with the tourism industry.

"There was a sense of stability in Port-au-Prince. Tourists were starting to trickle back in. The country was doing well, there was a certain stability."

Haiti's government, led by President Rene Preval, had plans to attract visitors to the country -- once a popular tourist destination -- ravaged by decades of political and economic instability compounded with widespread poverty and violence.

In October, 2009, Haitian Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour said the government had recently signed a deal with Venezuela to build an international airport in Cap-Haitien, the country's second city.

Last December, Royal Caribbean Cruises' Oasis of the Seas -- the largest cruise ship in the world -- began a weekly stopover at the northern beach resort of Labadee, Haiti, seen as another move to bolster the country's stagnant tourism industry and bring in much needed revenue.

However, Tuesday's natural disaster has derailed plans to revive Haiti's flat-lined economy.

"The fact that it (the city) has collapsed with the possible loss of life is a serious blow to the potential development of Haiti right now and the country really needs tourism to develop economically," said Mr Regnier.

"There were a lot of Haitians themselves returning and investing, huge developments in Jacmel for example, fantastic tourist developments which would have been a good example of what can be done in the future -- for this to happen now is devastating."

Multi-storey structures, built without adherence to building codes and without authorisation, have popped up throughout Port-au-Prince over the last few years, Mr Regnier said. Their shoddy craftsmanship is believed to be one of the reasons so many structures were demolished during the earthquake.

"There was no proper structural foundation," said Mr Regnier.

Yesterday in Port-au-Prince, a vastly overpopulated city home to two million residents, survivors reportedly stumbled through dust and rubble looking for family, shelter, food and water. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed dead. The city's prison, schools, hospitals and Parliament in Port-au-Prince have all been destroyed.

Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. More than half of Haiti's population survives on less than one dollar a day and 78 per cent lives on less than two dollars a day, the World Bank reports.