3 Aug 2010

HAITI / ROAD RECONSTRUCTION

With the arrival of the hurricane season in Haiti, a vital road badly damaged in the 12 January earthquake is under threat of being wiped out, potentially leaving close to 600,000 people shut off from food and supplies. WORLD BANK

Posted at: August 3, 2010 11:27 am

Duration: 02:25

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: HAITI / ROAD RECONSTRUCTION
TRT: 2:25
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE/ FRENCH/ NATS

DATELINE: 24 JUNE 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

SHOTLIST:

JUNE 24, 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

1.	Various  shots, Vilfranche Lavache sowing the land
2.	Wide shot, road destroyed by earthquake
3.	Traveling shot, road seen from car
4.	Wide shot, market in Port-au-Prince
5.	Close up, crack in road caused by earthquake
6.	Bus driving down the road
7.	SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Vilfranche Lavache, Farmer: 
"If there is no road to get to the market to sell our produce, we will eat some of the crops but the rest will go bad because we won't be able to sell them and that will be very hard for us."
8.	Various shots, truck transporting produce on road
9.	Wide shot, little girl by road
10.	Wide shot, mothers and children sitting by road
11.	Med shot, cracks on the road
12.	Wide shot, escarpment
13.	Med shot, cracks on the road
14.	SOUNDBITE: (English) Manuel Noronha, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Engineer:
"If we lose the road it will be a total disaster because the population on the other side - the population on the side of Jacmel - is close to 600,000 people. That's the only access during the rainy season. If they are cut off for three months, four months, nothing will arrive by road."
15.	Various shots, UN trucks working on the road
16.	Med shot, Haitian workers fixing the road
17.	Various shots, cracks on the road being sealed
18.	Wide shot, truck driving along road
19.	Wide shot, trees getting rained on during storm
20.	Various shots, Haitian workers clearing earth away
21.	Wide shot, UN trucks clearing the road
22.	SOUNDBITE: (English) Manuel Noronha, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Engineer:
"I need more trucks. I need many more trucks to take out this land."
23.	Wide shot, UN trucks on the road
24.	Med shot, Vilfranche Lavache sowing the land
25.	Close up, Vilfranche Lavache's boots
26.	Wide shot, Vilfranche Lavache walking in dirt

STORYLINE:

Hurricane season has started, putting renewed pressure on the redevelopment efforts in Haiti. With the arrival of the rains, a vital road is under threat of being wiped out, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of people shut off from food and supplies.

Sixty-four year old Vilfranche Lavache has been a potato farmer his entire life. His crops have provided for his eight children and wife for decades. But now his livelihood is threatened.  The road he depends on, a vital link between the rural region of Jacmel, where he grows his crops, and Port-au-Prince, where he sells them, was badly damaged in the 12 January earthquake. It is under threat of being lost entirely.

SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Vilfranche Lavache, Farmer: 
"If there is no road to get to the market to sell our produce, we will eat some of the crops but the rest will go bad because we won't be able to sell them and that will be very hard for us."

All day, trucks can be seen on the road transporting produce to and from the markets in Port-au-Prince. It is also the area's only connection to hospitals and medicine.

The road has giant fissures caused by the earthquake. Entire chunks are under threat of sliding away into the valley unless something is done to save the road.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Manuel Noronha, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Engineer: "If we lose the road it will be a total disaster because the population on the other side - the population on the side of Jacmel is close to 600,000 people. That's the only access during the rainy season. If they are cut off for three months, four months, nothing will arrive by road."

Manuel's team is trying to save the road. The project is part of a 65 million dollar reconstruction emergency grant funded by the World Bank in cooperation with the UN and the Haitian Government.  Hundreds of Haitians have been hired to help seal thousands of cracks ripped open by the earthquake. They build new retaining walls and existing ones are being fixed.

Loose land is being cleared to avoid mudslides.

Every day they are making progress but time is of the essence. Torrential downpours during the rainy season could seal the fate of the road before it is fixed. It must be secured before it is too late, but there are challenges.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Manuel Noronha, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Engineer:
"I need more trucks. I need many more trucks to take out this land."

If the road were to flush away, the only other way to get to Port-au-Prince would be on foot. For farmers like Vilfranche this would mean putting hours of walking between his home and his livelihood.