Business
Haiti: Gold Rush – but will it benefit the people?
Haiti might be “poorest country in the Americas,” but the tiny nation is also sitting on a gold mine.
The new Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe says he’s banking on the wealth in the northern mountains to lift Haiti out of poverty, but if history is any guide, the mining of gold, silver and copper hidden in the hills will mostly benefit foreign shareholders as it scars and pollutes an already denuded and fragile landscape.
Haiti might have something to gain, but it also has much to lose.
Backroom deals, legally questionable “memorandums”, and test drilling carried out with no public scrutiny and little government oversight are all part of the new gold rush in Haiti.
With US$ 20 billion worth of gold, copper and silver hidden in the hills of Haiti, investors in North America convinced of the buried treasure, have already spent US$ 30 million dollars collecting samples, digging, building mining roads and doing aerial surveys.
The fairy tale is true, but it might not have a “happily ever after” ending.
A 10-month investigation into the Haiti “gold rush” by the watchdog consortium Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW) discovered backroom deals, players with widely diverging objectives, legally questionable “memorandums”, and a playing field that is far from level.
