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Local Engineer Back From Haiti And Is Forced To Ask Some Hard Questions

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Grenville Phillips, Structual Engineer

I recently returned from a 4-week deployment in Haiti. My principal assignment was to train Haitian engineers to evaluate the safe structural condition of buildings, so that they could be occupied or abandoned. I also trained them in effective and economical repair and strengthening measures. I completed my assignments, returned home, and tried to forget the ugly side of the Haitian relief effort … but I could not. This is my story.

1.  Why have none of the UN agencies, international funding agencies, or aid organisations (except HfH) deployed any of the structural engineering volunteers in the Caribbean region, for a disaster which has occurred in the Caribbean.

2.  Why have the UN agencies, international funding agencies, and aid organisations that have contracted structural engineers, contracted them from outside of the Caribbean.

3.  Why was the lone structural engineer that was deployed from the Caribbean, discouraged from training Haitian engineers, and from inspecting any critical facilities?

4.  Why were none of the Caribbean based structural engineers deployed to evaluate any of the 5,900 schools that needed to be urgently evaluated?

5.  Why does UNOPS appear to be threatened by a group of Caribbean based structural engineers who were willing to volunteer their services?

6.  Why was UNOPS’s training so sub-standard.

I will attempt to answer some of these questions.  However, if anyone can provide a different interpretation of the evidence, then I will happily engage them in a discussion.

1.  If Caribbean based Structural Engineers volunteered their services, then there would be less work for the Engineers contracted by UNOPS to do.

2.  If the Engineers procured by UNOPS do less work than they expected, then they would not be required to be in Haiti for as long as they had estimated.  Therefore, they would receive commensurately less fees for their services.

3.  If Caribbean based Engineers gain experience in evaluating critical facilities, then UNOPS may see them as competitive threats.

4.  If Caribbean based Structural Engineers are well trained, then UNOPS may see them as potential competitive threats.

Read his full report on Grenville Phillip’s Weighed in the Balance blog.

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36 responses to “Local Engineer Back From Haiti And Is Forced To Ask Some Hard Questions”

  1. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Structural Engineering firms in the Caribbean would have to do like the North American firms and pursue the “Aid” and “Resconstruction” business just like
    any other commercial business venture.

    A lot of the “Aid” agencies are profit centres for big business.

  2. zion1971 Avatar
    zion1971

    All that money that is going to Hiati I can bet you only about 20% will actually stay in the country. Its the same game of somebody who gives you with the right hand and take back with the left hand. I guaranteed that a lot of these money flowing into Hiati is contingent upon the donor country providing the consultants, technicians and the equipment. And while Hiati might be lucky to retain 20% of the inflows about another 80% of that money will go to ruling seven family otherwise known as the morally repugnant elite. Let me say this, until the social structure and the political system in Hiati undergoes a radical change no amount of money will solve Hiati’s problem.

  3. Corve Avatar
    Corve

    I think they are overwhelmed with this tragedy. They must be doing their best with whatever they have. These are firm questions though for the rebuilding process.

  4. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Grenville

    You are a longstanding BU ‘family member’ man!
    ……what did you expect?

    Efficiency, fairness, respect and justice???

  5. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    Bush tea

    Their have been people there since day 2 from many countries doing their best for Haiti.

    Grenville has ‘just’ come back from a 4 week assignment .

    Why one might ask havent Caribbean structural engineers rushing out to volunteer their services prior to this ?

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @ru4real

    Did you not read Grenville’s blog?

    Your anti-engineer slip is showing.

  7. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Are you for real ru4real?

    You don’t get it do you….?
    So you really think that the large number of ‘volunteers’ there since ‘day 2’ have been doing this out of the goodness of their ‘sweet’ hearts?
    Where do you think that the millions donated to ‘help Haiti’ through the UN goes..?
    What kind of ‘stipends’ would you guess are paid…?

    How much ‘reimbursement’ would you guess a ‘volunteer’ would make for 4 weeks work?

    Bush Tea suspects that this is highly prized ‘work’ (especially for untrained morons unfit for real work in the developed countries) and that like all such international jobs, appropriate bribes are needed to ‘grease’ the way….. You play that you don’t know – do you remember your friends from 3S?…… well just like that!!

    Now the ‘problem’ with Grenville is that he play he honest, well meaning and worst of all – he don’t keep ….. cause he is a well known ‘blogger…..’

    …You think that the UN people could afford to have their business all over Grenville’s blog? ……I surprise that they let him land at all…. rotflmao

    ….why you think they don’t want the Dick up there either?….. OK -bad example …..LOL

  8. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ ru4real
    By the way, I miss you man!
    …since the ABC highway done and working so sweet we can’t seem to find anything to really fight about.

    Is they anything that you feel strongly about – or that is dear to your heart….?
    ha ha rotfl

  9. Austin Avatar
    Austin

    First of all let me thank you for your service to Haiti … Much respect. Yet another example of inbalance in how Caribbean professionals are percieved on the world stage by organization that propose to be helping the caribbean. There is a lack of respect for professional talent that exist regionally, a kind of outsiders know best mentality. Many of these organIzations issue high paid consultancies to white consultants who claim to know best, they spend their days/evenings on our beaches and in our bars for months, then return home for local professional to pick up the pieces.

    The important thing however is that you where there representing Barbados and we are proud of you… Do us a favor and make sure your local goverment representative is clued into your observation, for whatever that may be worth.

  10. Worried Driver Avatar
    Worried Driver

    Sigh……I realised some time ago that unscrupulous people can use this grave tragedy in order to collect massive financial and reputational gains.

    It seems I was right.

    Mr. Phillips….how can we change this? How can we guarantee that if such a tragedy occurs again that we get the best of both worlds ie the UN (and by extension, the world) focus their efforts to rebuilding the lives of those affected as well as our own professionals gain the experience needed so we can better aid our own selves in the future?

    Is it even possible?

  11. Oh Please... Avatar
    Oh Please…

    Is this just a case of sour grapes? Mommy, mommy, why didn’t Haiti invite me out to play??? I think so. Well Mr. Phillips you and your colleagues need to command respect in your country and region in order to dispel the notion that “outsiders are best.” Who needs “over-over-engineered” when we can import overseas talent with critical thinking, creative problem solving, and collaborative skills and get a sensible, and within reason engineering. The UN engineers aren’t threatened by you all– you aren’t even on their radar!!!

  12. ac Avatar
    ac

    @OH PLEASE

    Just like you to come out with your outlandish free falling pompous attitude, Carribbean people have been shafted by the american and others always asking as to do the cheap labour and never giving us a fair chance in reaping the economic windfall due us. Just because they think they are better and smarter than us as is evident in your ridicilous comment.

  13. Oh Please... Avatar
    Oh Please…

    ac– no one said anything about intelligence levels, you can be book smart, a genius and still be entirely devoid of the skills that I pointed out above: critical thinking, creative problem solving, and collaborative skills.I witness this on a daily basis…you have to bring something to the table if you want to play the game. As for the sense of entitlement, sorry but nobody is due anything, you have to earn professional respect.

  14. Commenter Avatar
    Commenter

    It’s simple. The earthquake in Haiti is not a natural earthquake and they don’t want us to figure that out. How could a 7.3 or whatever earthquake have an epicenter virtually on Haiti and cause such damage while the Dominican Republic remains untouched and both are on the same island? Yet a 8.whatever earthquake hits Chile about 100miles offshore and creates such damage in Chile and surrounding regions with such a large area?

    See http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116688&sectionid=351020704
    see also http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/index.html

  15. ac Avatar
    ac

    @Oh Please
    How can one demonstrate ones ability if not given the opportunity to do so as exemplified in the article.

  16. Islandflyer Avatar
    Islandflyer

    @ Commenter
    Right on the money!! I was wondering when someone would mention that… clearly if the UN outsiders are in residence for a long period, they can set up Haiti how they like, and their presence would not raise any red flags when strange on-shore and off-shore drilling sites start to pop up. “These are for fault line and earthquake research”, the experts cry, all the while the massive oil reserves of Haiti that have been kept secret for the people of Haiti for many decades will be drained away.

    I understand that the oil reserves under Haiti are so massive, they put even Venezuela to shame. Imagine that!

  17. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Islandflyer
    I understand that the oil reserves under Haiti are so massive, they put even Venezuela to shame. Imagine that!
    ********************************************************************************************
    Perhaps you also know that the latest technology used to map potential oil deposits involves the use of powerful shock waves at resonant frequencies, and that these have been shown to precipitate earthquakes in vulnerable locations.

    @ Oh Please
    Anyone who knows Grenville would know of his outstanding “critical thinking, creative problem solving, and collaborative skills” (Bush Tea can still remember the time that Owen cuss him at a public/private sector conference – the man tight.)
    Grenville’s failings include his openness and frankness; not playing the old boy bribe game (something about Christian principles); and not being driven to own everything that he sees.

    This is also why, as ‘Oh Please’ says, many in Barbados prefers to import foreign ‘consultants’ over local experts.
    – They bribe much better
    – They do as they are told
    – They understand the ‘kick back’ game well
    – Money means everything to them, so they are easily understood
    – They do no give a rat’s tail about long term consequences
    – They can be made to ‘go away’ at will through immigration

    Locals are problematic.
    – Because everyone knows them, you have to choose qualified experts
    – They then know too much
    – They care about long term consequences
    – Many of them do not focus mainly on the money, the idiots actually have principles..
    – They do not go away easily

    Who would you choose to build your prison?
    …. to design the ABC expansion?

    It is the same situation with local companies, with Government and with the UN.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    This comment may reside in left field but it makes for interesting comment anyway. Obama the man who ran a campaign on clean/renewable energy has given permission to drill of the US coastline. Bear in mind the US consumes 2O-25% of the world’s oil but hold 2% only in reserve. Why drill now? How does pumping the 2% reserve holding adds to the solution of maintaining a constant oil flows in the US?

  19. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    The Obama administration unveiled new fuel-economy regulations that promise to change the cars Americans drive. But the rules won’t produce a mass migration to tiny cars, electric vehicles or hybrids, at least not yet.

    Pushing fuel-saving technology into otherwise conventional cars and light trucks will make cars for the 2016 model year about 34% more fuel efficient on average than last year’s models, and about $950 more expensive to buy. Consumers should get that outlay back over three years in fuel savings.

  20. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Bush Tea

    can you please provide references (links, journals, books etc) for your assertion that ” the latest technology used to map potential oil deposits involves the use of powerful shock waves at resonant frequencies, and that these have been shown to precipitate earthquakes in vulnerable locations.”?

    Fascinating stuff.

  21. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Lord have mercy, Anonymous is a PDC man now.
    Bush Tea have to come with references and links….. LOL

    Seriously, my only reference for these things is really MME, and he gone real quiet since I ask him about an omelet.
    Any way you probably already know that earth mapping is done by sending shock waves through the ground and then measuring and plotting the resulting wave echos, travel times, distortions etc..
    In the past, these shock waves were generated from powerful explosions etc, however, of late, it appears that they have found that a technology called the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) can be applied to this research.

    Apparently, it has been previously secretly focused (and still is?) on controlling various weather patterns globally……

    …probably all nonsense…but I actually saw a National Geographic (or was it Discovery?) program recently where it was discussed. and the potential to trigger earth movements actually demonstrated live on the program…

  22. Avatar
    Anonymous

    BT
    Thanks for your reply. Will now do some research.
    BTW MME’s breadth and depth of knowledge is really quite amazing. Do you think he is a Bajan?

  23. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    THINK ??!!

    …only a Bajan could be as smart as MME obviously is….

  24. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    …and who else but a bajan would waste perfectly good coconut water by mixing it with rum…?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @ru4real

    When you surface it would be good to read a response to any of the questions which Grenville posed in his blog and stop showing your anti-engineer slip. Start with this one:

    3. Why was the lone structural engineer that was deployed from the Caribbean, discouraged from training Haitian engineers, and from inspecting any critical facilities?

  26. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    Is this just a case of sour grapes? Mommy, mommy, why didn’t Haiti invite me out to play??? I think so. Well Mr. Phillips you and your colleagues need to command respect in your country and region in order to dispel the notion that “outsiders are best.” Who needs “over-over-engineered” when we can import overseas talent with critical thinking, creative problem solving, and collaborative skills and get a sensible, and within reason engineering. The UN engineers aren’t threatened by you all– you aren’t even on their radar!!!
    —————————————————————–
    Well said

  27. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    David // April 3, 2010 at 11:00 AM

    When you surface it would be good to read a response to any of the questions which
    3. Why was the lone structural engineer that was deployed from the Caribbean, discouraged from training Haitian engineers, and from inspecting any critical facilities?
    —————————————————————

    Maybe he arrived too late in the day when everything had already been done by others.

  28. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    Who would you choose to build your prison?
    …. to design the ABC expansion?
    ——————————————–

    Someone who had the expertise to do it without little island mentality.

  29. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    You think that the UN people could afford to have their business all over Grenville’s blog? ……I surprise that they let him land at all…. rotflma

    ——————————-

    The UN doesnt jump about awaiting for some small islander with a grievance.
    The crisis was months ago now —— too late to come in offering expertise now the rough stuff has been done

  30. ru4real Avatar
    ru4real

    In Grenville Blog it states that preference was given to engineers who spoke French.

    This seems pretty logical to me how can you train someone if you dont speak their language.

    Grenville doesnt mention if he is a french speaker.

  31. David Avatar
    David

    @ru4real

    Please see the following response from Grenville where he kindly responded on his blog to your question posted on your behalf:

    Hi David:

    Please note the following.

    1. I do not speak French.

    2. None of the French speaking Caribbean based engineers who volunteered to go have been deployed yet.

    3. Very few engineers that I spoke with in Haiti, including the UNOPS trainers, spoke French.

    4. Not being able to speak French did not hinder any of my engineering assignments in Haiti.

    Regards,
    Grenville

  32. David Avatar
    David

    Grenville the local structural engineer who volunteered to travel to Haiti has some more to say on his blog.

    @ru4real

    Still waiting on your response to Grenville.

  33. Ms Bim Avatar
    Ms Bim

    ru4real, your attitude is just…. typical. ‘Why didn’t Haiti invite me out to play?’ Such a facetious comment in the face of a major disaster.

    “We can import overseas talent with critical thinking, creative problem solving, and collaborative skills and get a sensible, and within reason engineering.” There is nothing that an African man can do to ‘command respect’ from those with an innate attitude of racial superiority, and contempt for people they consider lesser. By the way, what does “and get a sensible, and within reason engineering” actually mean?

    “The UN engineers aren’t threatened by you all– you aren’t even on their radar!!!” Sums up the sense of entitlement nicely. Couldn’t have put it better.

  34. Avatar
    Anonymous

    @Ms Bim

    You have got your quotes mixed up it was O Please’ s comment actually.
    So you will have to address your questions to him accordingly.

  35. Fred Avatar
    Fred

    Why did UNOPS refuse to employ volunteers?

    Simple.

    UNOPS survives (i.e. pays salaries of under performing execs) by charging 7% of all budgets spent as “management fee.” That is, of every 100 USD spent 7 USD go into UNOPS’ “pockets.” If they use volunteers = less money spent = less “management fee” earned.

    UNOPS is a UN-for-profit organization. Nothing more.

    Get it?

  36. nanci Avatar
    nanci

    one of the problems with builders in haiti constructing homes and building is that they mix the concrete with mud to make the material last longer, they dont use enough steel inside the buildings, and the cement is poorly mixed, they need proper material when consturting those homes or buildings, that’s why the buildings and homes feel so quickly. The building codes needs to come into place, too many buildings were too close to each other. This bad kind of service was going on for a long time, so finally when a catrasphe happened all the buildings fell.

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