Introduction
This is a report from a planning commission on rural settlement which was held on the 18th of Apr 2008; at Port- Au- Prince – Haiti. This meeting was attended by the top officials of the Haitian government; including officials from the ministry of lands, national planning; finance, and also from that of special programs. Other parties of the commission included officials from the word bank; the world health organization and IMF representatives.
Objectives of the meeting
This focused meeting held in Port –Au-Prince was to formulate the best strategies to help the people of Haiti anticipate, adapt and also recover from the impacts of earthquakes. Following the continued earthquakes which have claimed many lives and billions worth of property; there has risen the need to strategize on how to help the people of Haiti from this calamity. Some of the objectives raised for the meeting included the following (Kinder 46-74).
- Gathering information on rural settlements in Haiti
- Discussing the settlement patterns of other countries
- Discussing on the issue of appropriate building materials
- Identifying which settlement patterns are suitable for the Haiti region
Discussions
In the meeting, it was recognized that the planning on settlement patterns to be adopted in Haiti was a sensitive and difficult issue. This was due to the high costs of resettling the people to be involved in carrying out the development plans. On the other hand; adopting the settlement patterns applied in other countries may not be easy; since there is a lack of standardization on the geographical setup. The officials in the meeting proposed a fifteen-year plan to resettle people from the earthquake-prone areas, to safer grounds. Views of building light structures especially using wood were strongly supported (Kinder 46-74).
Conclusion
It was also agreed within the meeting that UN member countries should help Haiti with funds to realize these strategies. The IMF and the world bank were also requested to give loans to Haiti towards the same development (Kinder 46-74).
During the meeting, a committee of five members was formed to ensure the implementations were raised during the meeting. This committee consisted of the chairman and secretary both from Haiti; and other three officials from the UN, the World Bank, and the WHO representatives. The mandate of this committee was to mobilize for funds from different stakeholders and well-wishers and to ensure the process of resettling people succeeds (Kinder 46-74).
The Planning commission report of the meeting held on the 18th Apr in Port-Au- Prince in Haiti
The parliamentary procedure
Agenda
- Examining on the current rural settlement in Haiti
- Examining a case study of settlement in one country in Europe.
- Coming up with a suitable rural settlement plan
- Examining the appropriate building materials
At the beginning of the meeting, the present members were briefed on the current rural settlement patterns in Haiti by the officials from the ministry of lands. A case study on the rural settlement patterns in Italy was tabled and informed discussions were conducted. All members were given equal opportunities to view their opinions on whether rural settlement patterns in Italy were applicable in Haiti; or not. The majority of the members suggested that the differences in geographical orientation between Haiti and Italy; as well as the economic framework could not allow for the adoption of Italy’s settlement in Haiti (Kinder 46-74).
All members agreed that an implementation committee is formed to foresee the process of resettling these people to safer grounds. Present members voted for the formation of a five-member committee. The chairman and secretary were elected from Haiti, while the other three were from the UN, World Bank, and the WHO (Kinder 46-74).
Present members also exchanged opinions on the most suitable building materials, whereby they decided that timber should be used. This is because structures made from timber will pose less harm to the people in case of another instance of an earthquake.
Works cited
Kinder, Simon. “The settlement Cook Book: The way to a man’s heart”. Boston: Apple wood books. (1996): 46-74.