The Countdown Begins
Chapter 31
Things were returning to normal as the word might be applied to Port-au-Prince, but nowhere else. Garbage left over from carnival still hadn’t been collected, the seasonal rains had started and things on the ground molded and rotted in the intermittent sunshine. It was just another beautiful day in the neighborhood. However, Mr. Rogers was absent. And so was Mama Mambo.
She hadn’t been seen or heard from for several days. Not after her not-so pleasant chitchat with the gendarmes. She’d finally realized her days of power and glory were now numbered. Although she held a slim hope they’d be somewhere in the six figures. That’s what counted, a little more time to turn things around in her favor. Ever the eternal optimist, Mama began imploring the Loa to save her generous butt!
***
But there was progress, progress that could actually be seen and measured by the residents, tangible actions and accomplishments for a change. A new waste treatment plant was being built on the edge of the city with the capacity to process three times the effluence of the dilapidated, old one. Sewerage main lines were being dug throughout the city to move the waste more efficiently. New power lines were laid alongside in the ditches. For the first time in the history of the city, electric power would be underground and not subject to the whims of Mother Nature. The two existing generating plants were being refurbished and upgraded to eliminate the frequent power outages which plagued the capital.
No one minded the disruptions caused by the around-the-clock construction activity in the streets. They understood the importance of upgrading these physical infrastructures which would lead to improved utility services for all. The projects also provided many jobs to the unemployed, some working for the first time in their lives. Progress was no longer being measured in broken promises and ineffectual baby steps, but in giant leaps and bounds. It was something never witnessed before and the people were happy. And it was all due to the good works of the United Nations.
The UN Development Program was overseeing these projects and taken its lead from the old Works Progress Administration in the U.S. during the Great Depression. That was the largest and most ambitious program of its kind, employing millions of Americans to carry out public works projects throughout the country.
Now the model was being applied to Port-au-Prince. In essence, the UN had declared war on the ramshackle, antiquated hodgepodge of the city’s most basic services and it was making good headway. It was much too soon to declare victory, although the initial skirmishes with the decades old enemies of progress were going well.
However, tackling physical infrastructure problems was one thing, but the organizational ones were a bit more problematic. The overwhelming issue was the entrenched sinecures of the senior ministry officials. The UN mentors and shadows had their work cut out for them. Bureaucratic inefficiencies and outright corruption complicated matters greatly. It was merely the way things had been done for generations. And to the political victor went the spoils, at least until now.
That pernicious paradigm was about to change. The UN team of auditors pored over the government’s books which had been well cooked in a variety of imaginative and innovative ways. However, it didn’t take them long to uncover many serious defalcations. Waste was one thing, fraud quite another. So a new accounting system was implemented with a checks and balance feature that would be hard to fudge.
An alien concept was introduced across all of the ministries. It was called accountability, personal accountability. Feet were now held to the well known fire and some got badly burned in the process. Lame excuses for lack of action were no longer the order of the day. Finger pointing would cease and clear lines of responsibility and authority were drawn up for each ministry.
The government’s purse strings were tightened. Truthfully, the purse was taken away from the Haitians for safekeeping. Money was released only when fully justified and officials had personally signed-off that it’d been received. Trails were instituted to track the money throughout the system. No more wink, wink, nod, nod transactions were allowed. All of I’s were dotted and T’s crossed so they had to be on their best behavior and watch their P’s and Q’s.
An audit was conducted of payroll records against real people. Many ghost employees were fired for lack of transparency. Those ersatz employees were costing the government some serious money. Of course, ghosts holding supervisory and management positions were more costly.
An Office of Inspector General was established which reported only to the president. Otherwise, it was wholly independent of political interests. Instances of government malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance would fall under its authority. An ethics code, a code of conduct for employees, would be drafted. Suspected criminal violations would be referred to the gendarmerie for investigation. The only potential problem was finding the right person to fill the Inspector General position. Maybe, like Diogenes, it would be tough to find an honest man in Greece or Haiti.
The President of Haiti wisely called for national elections within six months, wisely following the strong suggestion of the UN Secretary General. The recent turmoil and general dissatisfaction aimed at his administration was the reason given. He was a sleazy politician, but not a dummy. LET DEMOCRACY LIVE was his constant mantra. Actually, he wanted to avoid a referendum fearing he’d get removed from office by a no-confidence vote. At least he could save some face and run again.
His party still held the superior position among the political parties, so he thought his chances for reelection were pretty good. However, there would be an unexpected twist to the elections which would please the voters, but not him or his cronies. It wasn’t his idea, but the Secretary’s and it was an unprecedented one. Every national office would be up for grabs, even if the incumbent’s term of office hadn’t expired. The politicos in the upper and lower chambers of parliament were furious, but unable to challenge the decision based on constitutional grounds.
As expected, the changes tended to badly rankle the hell out of the senior ministers and legislators. They were very happy with the old status quo. And it was rightly so since they personally profited from their decisions to help a few friends now and again and again. However, the public, most especially the rank-and-file civil servants, were delighted because they never shared in the profits of corruption in the first place, not even a few crumbs from the greedy bastards. So, the new business model was A-OK with them.
The public was ecstatic when hearing the news about the elections. It was a chance to throw the bums out and hope they didn’t mistakenly elect others of their ilk. No matter. Progress was afoot in the capital and the people couldn’t wait for more. And there was forward movement, a momentum they could see for themselves. It was if they’d awoken from a bad dream. The factiousness, civil strife, religious wrangling and violence of the past few weeks had seemed to have disappeared overnight. Everyday life was getting better with each week’s passing. Progress and good times were returning and there was hope for the future. Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll was the new battle cry in the streets!