South Florida contractors betting on Haiti recovery

South Florida contractors betting on Haiti recovery

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Randal Perkins, the chief executive of South Florida's AshBritt, stood before Haiti's ruined National Palace -- with its crumbled columns and shattered domes -- watching two of his yellow excavators sift through the rubble.

It was a powerful photo-op in front of the nation's most symbolic political institution. But there was one wrinkle in the picture: AshBritt doesn't have a contract to work on the high-profile project.

More than four months after Haiti's lethal earthquake, the international commission overseeing the recovery is still mulling how to spend the $9.9 billion pledged to the nation. But U.S. contractors are diving in, making high-stakes bets that reconstruction deals will eventually bring a windfall.

Companies have spent millions moving personnel and machinery to the shattered island since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Others have started on projects despite having no formal agreements to be compensated for the work. And all are lining up political allies as they elbow for a spot at the front of the line.

That has some here worried that deep pockets and powerful interests may be warping the playing field before the business of rebuilding Haiti truly begins.

``If you are doing work with the expectation that it will turn into a contract, then you are disrupting the system,'' said Reginald Bolous, the president of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce. ``We should give everyone a chance to compete for jobs -- particularly small local enterprises.''

$93M AWARDED

According to the Federal Procurement Database, about $93 million in U.S. government contracts have already been awarded in Haiti since the earthquake. But billions more will be poured into rebuilding roads, bridges and government offices.

The massive earthquake killed a government-estimated 300,000 people and destroyed more than 250,000 buildings -- leaving the streets clogged with about 60 million cubic meters of rubble -- enough to fill the Rose Bowl 188 times.

While small-scale demolition and debris removal is under way, much of the heavy lifting awaits, and will require machinery not available in the country.

Pompano Beach-based AshBritt joined forces with Haiti's GB Group, a large industrial and commercial company, and Alabama-based D&J Enterprises to form the Haiti Recovery Group.

HRG, as the company is known, has invested about $25 million in getting ready for Haiti contracts and has moved 106 pieces of heavy equipment into position, Perkins said.

``You can't wait to react. We made a business decision to work in Haiti, we assessed the risks, and made a capital investment,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, this is a place where you have to put the cart before the horse.''

While the company waits for contracts, Perkins loaned the government's CNE construction company two specialized excavators to work on demolishing the National Palace. However, outside of a brief photo-op, the two excavators seemed to sit idle in front of the ailing mansion, and CNE refused to talk about the contractor's role at the site.

Other companies are also forging ahead.

Fort Lauderdale-based Bergeron Emergency Services is working in partnership with a Haiti-based rice and cement importer, SAJ, which also runs a private port just outside of Port-au-Prince.

Company president J.R. Bergeron said he has spent more than $1 million moving staff into the country, setting up local offices and securing 40 million tons of lime-rock from neighboring Dominican Republic that will be a key ingredient in a proposed asphalt plant.

Alabama-based DRC is another major player. Working with one of Haiti's largest road builders, V&F Construction, DRC helped recover bodies from the Montana hotel.

Since then, DRC has taken over operations at the municipal landfill that sits along a prominent road to the international airport.

A DRC spokeswoman said that the work there was started on a voluntary basis, but she would not provide further details.

BIDDING

In a statement, the World Bank said it financed a feasibility study on the landfill, which it has forwarded to the Haitian government. If the government pursues the project -- which the World Bank might finance for six to 12 months -- an international bidding process would be launched.

``No proposal from DRC or V&F has been communicated to the World Bank to clear rubble at the Truitier landfill and the World Bank has never offered to refund any cost to these firms,'' the bank wrote. ``If the government decides to move ahead with this project, these firms may however present bids for the management contract of the debris site.''

Doing work on spec is not out of the ordinary, said the U.S. Agency for International Development.

``It can be common for contractors to work -- or offer help -- at their expense after a major disaster strikes a country,'' Melissa Nachatelo-Lee with USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance said in an e-mail. ``Some may be doing this to gain experience while others anticipate that their efforts can lead to future opportunities.''

To date, the only rubble removal contract USAID has issued was a $3.5 million deal with the PHS Group of Silver Spring, Md., a Haitian-American-owned firm that has worked in Iraq and in Florida on Everglades restoration projects.

J.R. Bergeron said posturing and aggressive self-promotion in Haiti was an inevitable part of this high-stakes competition.

``The bottom line is that it's almost not good enough to stand on your own merit,'' he said. ``Politics plays a large role.''

Part of the political game is to tout the benefits to the local economy. All of the contractors have pledged to hire Haitian subcontractors and help support local small businesses. And all of them have joined forces with Haitian companies that are known as much for their capabilities as their political clout.

Ultimately, it will be up to the international commission, spearheaded by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, to decide how the contracts are issued.

With so much work to be done in the struggling nation, Perkins said he's confident there will be enough work to go around. But it's still a leap of faith.

``You have to weigh the risks,'' he said, ``then cross your fingers and hope to hell it all works out in the end.''

Miami Herald staff writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report.

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Lynn M. Miller, LMA, LLC
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