Hawaii, Timely Lesson from Haiti!
“I’m looking you in the eye today to say: Your president, whom you voted for, is not guilty of corruption.” Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, (Time).
Maui, to say that Hawaiian Electric power lines were an ‘accident ready to happen’ is an understatement.
→You got burned alive!
August 8th marked the beginning of the end for over a hundred people, and 385 missing.
Maui, it must be a terrible blow to discover a ‘WARNING’ may have saved lives. Adding insult to serious injury and loss, President waited weeks before his visit? Wonder how long before you pay your final respects on his departure?
Hawaii, a timely lesson from Haiti! → Guard from deadly deception. Recall my September 2021 paper, Haiti’s “Snake-Oil Salesmen” Ӫ Société Générale d’Énergie SA (Sogener), E-Power and Haytrac. Passages from the introduction are highly relevant:
On “July 7 [2021] – Haitian President Jovenel Moise, a 53-year-old former businessman who took office in 2017, was shot dead.” Then a major earthquake hit leaving in its wake over 2,000 dead and hundreds missing with over 12,000 injured.
It seems the now fallen President did not listen to the words of the people and the country’s famous Haitian artist,Frankétienne. “Beyond the rage of seasonal storms there are voices that speak and bleeding guts.”
And what of those who control Haiti’s electric power? State-owned Electricité d’Haïti (EDH) buys electricity from three independent power providers (Société Générale d’Énergie SA (Sogener), E-Power and Haytrac.
Corruption and catastrophes befall Haiti the way spies before and in the aftermath of war. With nothing to lose, does one finally face the ‘eye of the storm’ and gut the belly of power beasts.
International aid and think tanks cannot save Haiti from itself. Or shall we say from business snake-oil salesmen.
The Copenhagen Consensus Center with the financial support of the Government of Canada presented the March 22, 2017 working paper “TRANSMITTING AND DISTRIBUTING ELECTRICITY IN HAITI – Haïti Priorise” by “Jean Edouard Pauyo, Energy Specialist.
“The biggest obstacle to the development of the electricity sector in Haiti is the weakness of institutions, manifested particularly by the deficiency of respect for property rights, the basic rules of justice, by chronic crises of governability and the general level of corruption.”
Yet, the subject of regulation did not come up in the paper. Pauyo points out in his introduction:
“The purpose of this paper is to determine the Benefit/Cost (BCR) ratios of two interventions in the electric power sector in Haiti. The first intervention is the construction of a national electricity transmission network and the second is the rehabilitation and extension of distribution networks throughout the country.”
As his list highlights, the warning of risk was loud and clear:
1. Level of electricity theft
2. Political instability, lack of cohesion and vision at the political level in the country
3. Failure and dependence of the state on the international community
4. Lack of administrative and legal systems to combat fraud and corruption and to ensure
protection property rights and compliance with standards in general
5. Weakness of government institutions and lack of development strategy
6. Anarchic urbanization
7. Lack of local capital for infrastructure development
Corruption and lack of regulation begs the question: Why was there such a push for ‘sustainable’ projects in Haiti?
“More recently, there has been a lack of interest on the part of the international community to finance major infrastructure projects in favor of small off-grid or micro-grid electrification projects.”
One is sure to find ‘electrification projects’ across developing countries as islands.
Rebuilding and Future of Hawaii
Hawaii, let me be clear. Haiti is not Hawaii. Each is situated in different oceans, yet they share a common threat: Deregulation. How to address issues and rebuilt Hawaii? Eye & gut the belly of power beasts.
Referring to Haiti, I point to a ‘Blackout Blueprint.’
“No matter the number of blueprints for building in Haiti, “Without an overseeing regulatory body, EDH has essentially acted as its own regulator, making most decisions unilaterally about the right to operate on the grid, the terms and conditions of operation, tariff rates, and investment opportunities.”
Worldwatch Institute points out in their 2014 paper Haiti Sustainable Energy Roadmap, “Although EDH has its own generation park and technically holds a monopoly over the country’s electricity system, most power is currently produced by independent power producers (IPPs)…”
Important, these IPPs are not blindly investing with their own money in what many see as a big gamble. Nor do they go at it alone. Financial support comes from the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
IFC and its stakeholders? Remember, “E-Power is majority-owned by a consortium of local investors led by Daniel Rouzier, a Haitian businessman.” What exactly did these businessmen do for the people then and now?
Hmm? Just don’t expect to find IFC on your island. They conveniently have international offices, specifically in the US, Washington, D.C.
Ironic is it not? Think tanks and research institutes have invested time and money to come up with “pathways” and “roadmaps” for Haiti, a place where few paths or roads manage to exist or stand.
Hawaii, back to you. Let’s turn our gaze to the south of Maui, where you’ll find standing at the summit of Haleakalā, the Maui Space Surveillance Complex, and miracously unscathed by the fires.
I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘accidental’ spillages of U.S. base complexes on Maui. Question is, if ‘No Man Is An Island’ what of the “Maui Space Surveillance Complex (MSSC): What Really Lies Beneath?”
Recall the U.S. Space Force spills 700 gallons of fuel at Haleakala.
Telescope along with Pacific Air Forces have long been present in Maui and Hawaii’s past, but will they be part of your future? “The Air Force’s lease for land at Haleakala’s summit expires in 2031.”
But has U.S. presence been an advantage or detriment? Time to rethink. “Ki’ope Raymond, president of Kilakila ‘O Haleakala, said his organization has disagreed in the past that the military should even be on the mountain.”
Think about it, being an island ‘leased’ by the United States did not win you any favors. You saw first-hand President did not consider your tragedy nor your dead a priority.
Then again, since February, the people of East Palestine, Ohio have been waiting for a visit from their “Commander and Chief.” Of course, some would say, ‘No lives lost in derailment of chemical trains.’ Still others say, ‘Not yet. A slow ghastly death awaits hundreds.’
Florida, Oh sure, Joe not only gave a press release on ‘emergency’ but wasted no time to fly south only to find another hyped storm come and go. But the ‘gig is up.’
So called ‘climate change’ has finally been outed to be the public and private sector’s scapegoat. Sure, Joe want’s everyone to go electric, everyone except DEFENSE.
Hawaii, finally, let me reiterate, one cannot build on sand and corruption and not expect it to crumble or burn to the ground. Just ask Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Liken to Western leaders and business contractors who created illusions in the Middle East, Haiti’s snake-oil salesmen made sure the people heard the siren calls. Maui appears you too heard them loud and clear.
