Here’s a graphic from the Washington Post showing where some land is located that the Haitian government is either taking or renting (not clear which) through procedures similar to eminent domain to use for resettlements (i.e., deconcentrate “tent cities”). Melissa and Orlando over on the Haiti Rewired forum identified where four of these five plots are on Google Maps. You can zoom in and see from the satellite photo option on Google Maps how they line up with existing roads and communities.
I wonder what people in the plots that are farther from central P-a-P will do for employment. It will be interesting to hear how bus and tap-tap services adjust to bring them into Port-au-Prince for what work there is, and if schools can be set up there. Perhaps assisting with the constructions of the shelters will make these areas both housing and employment sites for a few months.
From what I can tell, these plots look fairly large and there are plenty of similar plots around them (although putting everybody to close together may not be the idea).
Update: A presidential decree a couple weeks ago set aside a very large (over 10,000 acre) parcel of land north of Port-au-Prince that seems to be renamed Corail Cesselesse. You can see the tract in blue on Openstreetmap.org (thanks to Jean-Guilhem Cailton and others at over at Haiti Rewired) or in the photo below from Radio Metropole. Note that one point on the map includes the town of Boucassin which is called Cabaret on other maps.
I didn't realize that they were going to use that much ground. That will affect many farmers that have gardens in those areas. This will cause many problems if not handled correctly with those already living in this marked zone. Lori in Cazale
Posted by: Lori | April 12, 2010 at 10:12 AM