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Updated Monday, February 8, 2010 10:21 am TWN, By Carlos Hamann, AFP

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What will it take to rebuild Haiti?

Those countries — including Haiti's partner on the isle of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic — have economies largely based on agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.

Haiti could too, said Johanna Mendelson Forman, a Haiti expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This means decentralization away from the capital; construction of new infrastructure, roads, and distributive energy systems to end rural isolation; and a rededication to agriculture so that Haitians can grow their own food,” she said in an interview on the CSIS website.

Erikson said that Washington could help create favorable trade arrangements to boost Haiti's agricultural exports, such as mangos.

But he believed that the Haitian government can't — and the foreign community would rather not — take charge of developing long-term plans.

The Haitian government is a government in name only, Erikson said, as he described the country's problems as a “hot potato passed between the government and the international community.”

Money sent home by Haitians living abroad is a major source of income for the impoverished country, and Dobbins urged Washington temporarily to raise the quota of Haitians allowed into the United States.

“Every dollar they emit to relatives in Haiti is another dollar that does not need to come from U.S. taxpayers,” Dobbins said.

Both Mendelson Forman and Erikson also warned against another danger: donor fatigue.

“After this natural flare of interest and support, interest fades,” Ericson said. Haiti will need “substantial foreign aid for the foreseeable future,” he added.

In the meantime, the London-based Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) urged foreign donors to also plan for Haiti's next potential disaster, such as hurricanes.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Caribbean, and in 2008 four big storms pounded the country killing around 800 people and causing millions of dollars in flood damage.

Foreign donors “must not rush into a quick-fix rebuilding of permanent homes, schools and other buildings in Haiti,” a DEC statement said.

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