Washington - Today U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) co-chaired a joint hearing of the Western Hemisphere and International Development subcommittees of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The topic of the hearing was "Rebuilding Haiti in the Martelly Era." The hearing examined the role of the private sector, NGOs, and the diaspora in complementing the efforts of international donors and aid agencies in rebuilding Haiti.

"Based on the insightful presentations I heard today, I remain convinced that the challenges for Haiti are daunting but not insurmountable," said Menendez. "We need the government of Haiti to come together and then to work with the private sector and the development community to create an environment that will attract private investment, create jobs, address health and education needs, and ultimately allow Haitians to support and care for themselves and their children."

Testifying before the subcommittees were Major Joseph Bernadel, the Permanent Representative of the Haitian Diaspora on the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti; Regine Simon-Barjon, the President of BioTek Solutions, Inc./Biotek Haiti S.A.; Georges Barau Sassine, the President of the Association of Haitian Industries in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti; and Gary Shaye, the Haiti Country Director for Save the Children in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Menendez expressed concern about Haitian President Michel Martelly's nominee for Prime Minister being rejected by the Haitian parliament and said, "In order for us to move forward, we need not the politics of the past but the opportunity to move into the future."

He also asked the panel about the plan for education in Haiti and how it can be turned into a free public education system for children in Haiti. Major Joseph Bernadel responded that there is a 20-year plan that needs to be started, and that it could be similar to charter schools in the U.S., where the government helps subsidize some of the school, based on benchmarks like test scores, teacher training, and overall performance.

Menendez also inquired about the last operating sugar mill in Haiti, and whether there is continued resistance to agriculture development by large land owners. Regine Simon-Barjon said that there is not, because they work hard to pay their farmers so that everyone in the region can be successful. What is needed for more development is more investment in the country, she said. To make that possible, Georges Sassine added, the major problem of land tenure needs to be dealt with.


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