Profiting off Haiti’s disaster?
Many Haitians say big companies investing in quake-devastated country for cheap labour.
Published On 22 Mar 2010
Millions of dollars from around the world are pouring into Haiti to provide basic aid for the earthquake devastated nation.
And millions of dollars in foreign investments are also flowing into the country to help it rebuild and shape its future.
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However, many Haitians see the expansion of foreign companies as a way to take advantage of the widespread poverty plaguing the country, where the unemployment rate is up to 80 per cent.
The exploitation concerns come as former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush prepare to visit the Caribbean nation on Monday to discuss long-term recovery efforts with Haitian officials.
And a part of their plans will be to discuss the expansion of clothing industries in the country – in which workers earn less than $4 a day – one of the lowest wages in the world.
Al Jazeera’s Sebastian Walker reports from the city of Ouanaminthe – home to some of the country’s biggest textile businesses.
Source: Al Jazeera