TFHA01: EMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE EARTHQUAKE SITREP as of 1800,

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000088

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO MARR PREL PINR AMGT HA PGOV AID
EAID
SUBJECT: TFHA01: EMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE EARTHQUAKE SITREP as of 1800,
Day 12


1. (SBU) Summary: Street markets and grocery stores in
upscale Petionville are operating. Fuel is available, causing a
return of the city's traffic-clogged streets - the congestion
signaling movement toward normalcy. But downtown Port-au-Prince is
devastated. The GOH has assigned ministers to regions for the
purpose of coordinating relief efforts. AID reports that all 14 of
the GOH ministry buildings it inspected are destroyed or unusable.
The airport terminal building is also severely damaged. Banks and
wire transfer companies are beginning to disburse funds; customers
are orderly.




2. (SBU) Summary continued: Approximately 30-40% of the
garment industry's production capacity has been damaged. Garment
factories that are operating will exhaust their raw materials in
two weeks, and fear losing large buyers if materials are not
received and production maintained. Damaged port facilities in
Port-au-Prince are forcing some producers to ship materials and
finished products via the Dominican Republic, which adds
significant cost. End summary.



ATMOSPHERICS




3. (SBU) Street markets in the upscale suburb of Petionville
are full of goods from the countryside, and supermarkets that have
not collapsed are full of imported goods and customers. Market
prices have reportedly not risen significantly, which reflects the
fact that the supply of produce from surrounding farms has not been
disrupted. Streets are full with traffic, worse now with large
numbers of relief worker and military vehicles added to the mix.
Fuel is readily available with few lines. The second of the two
fuel terminals will come on line in two days and thus will be ready
to refill the tank farm before it runs out of fuel. One can see in
many places the return of Haitian street food, cooked over charcoal
and sold to pedestrians.




4. (SBU) None of this applies to downtown Port au Prince.
With makeshift tents on the Champs de Mars (the equivalent of the
National Mall in DC) and in every vacant lot, it is a very changed
place from the overcrowded bustling commercial area it once was.
Approximately one in three buildings are totally destroyed, with
others teetering on collapse. Piles of rubble fill the streets,
which are devoid of traffic. There are only a few dusty
pedestrians wandering from ruin to ruin looking for something to
salvage. No established brick and mortar businesses have reopened
downtown, and most of the sidewalk vendors have moved elsewhere.
The government has a tough decision ahead on whether to rebuild the
devastated city center or build a new one in another location.



GOH ASSIGNS MINISTERS TO REGIONS FOR RELIEF COORDINATION


5. (SBU) The GOH announced that it has assigned one minister
to each area listed below for coordination of activity in support
of mayors and relief teams:

???? Port-au-Prince: Yves Cristallin (Minister of Social
Affairs)

???? Delmas: Marjorie Michel (Minister of Womens Affairs)

???? Carrefour: Carol Joseph (Secretary of State for
Literacy)


???? P????tionville, Kenskoff: Josselyne Colimon
F????thi????res
(Minister of Commerce and Industry)

???? Tabarre, Croix des Bouquets : Delisss???? (Secretary of
State for Plant Production)

???? Cit???? Soleil: Joseph Jasmin (Minister for
Parliamentary
Relations)


???? Gressier, L????ogane, Grand-Go????ve, Petit-Go????ve:
Jean-Marie
Germain (Minister of Environment)

???? Cabaret : Paul Antoine BienAim???? (Minister of
Interior)

* Jacmel and surrounding area: Edwin Paraison (Minister of
Haitians Living Abroad)



ENGINEERS REPORT ON STATUS OF GOH BUILDINGS




6. (SBU) An inspection team comprised of USAID and GOH
representatives inspected 14 ministry buildings. Twelve buildings
completely collapsed and two buildings are partially standing and
considered not useable. The only building not inspected was the
Ministry of Agriculture building, but reports indicate that it is
sound.




7. (SBU) The airport terminal building suffered extensive
structural damage to concrete posts, beams and walls throughout the
entire building, with the exception of the passenger area and the
movable walkway tubes that connect the waiting areas to the
aircraft. The control tower sustained extensive structural damage.



ECONOMIC RECOVERY




8. (SBU) Western Union has agreed to waive all of its
transfer fees for large NGO payouts, as well as smaller payouts to
individuals. USAID, in coordination with other agencies, agreed to
move $2M to recapitalize Fonkoze, the remittance transfer agency
that puts cash in hand for some of the most vulnerable populations
in Haiti. Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, Fonkoze began to
distribute cash to nine locations around the country. Pursuant to
President Preval's order, banks began to open on January 23. Lines
outside banks, as well as transfer centers, are long but calm, and
the large crowds are orderly, with MINUSTAH soldiers on foot patrol
at some locations.




9. (SBU) EmbOff met on January 25 with Georges Sassine,
Executive Director of CTMO-HOPE (the HOPE 2 Implementation
Commission) at the SONAPI Industrial Park near downtown
Port-au-Prince to assess the state of Haiti's apparel assembly
sector. Prior to the earthquake there were 25 factories employing
28,000 workers in the apparel assembly sector in Haiti. Eleven
factories are located at SONAPI employing 18,000 workers. Only one
of the factories at SONAPI was badly damaged, and the other ten
factories are starting to re-open. Some re-opened on January 20,
and all are expected to resume operations again on January 25. A
preliminary assessment of the 14 factories outside of SONAPI
revealed that eight have sustained damage, three are undamaged, and
three have not been assessed. Mr. Sassine estimated that
approximately 30-40% of the industry's production capacity has been
damaged.




10. (SBU) As of January 22, the factories had enough raw
material to maintain production and fill orders for approximately
two weeks. After that time, producers must have raw material or
they fear that large high-volume customers such as Wal-Mart will
begin sourcing their orders from other production sites. Because
the port of Port-au-Prince is severely damaged and operating at
only 30% capacity, the manufacturers are using the port of Rio
Haina on the southwest coast of the Dominican Republic to ship and
receive their containers. However, this has added an additional
transport cost of about USD 1,000 per container.



11. (SBU) Comment: The apparel manufacturers in Haiti operate
on a high volume, thin margin, low capitalization basis where cash
flow is extremely important for the business to survive. Sassine
said that the industry would greatly benefit from a "soft loan"
fund of USD 20 million for their immediate working capital cash
needs. The "soft loan" fund would grant concessionary loans with
an extended grace period and affordable interest rates to enable
manufacturers to operate at full capacity as soon as possible,
retain the 28,000 workers already employed, and expand production
to benefit under the special trade provisions of the HOPE II Act.
End comment.



MINIMIZE CONSIDERED
MERTEN