Haiti's wealth of untapped mining resources must benefit the poor

Feb 4, 2014 | The Guardian
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In 2012 I wrote about the mining situation in Haiti and the vast potential for this sector. Mining companies could provide an increase in tax revenues and bring employment to the country – both of which are much needed.

But more than a year later, it is not clear that the benefits mining companies could bring to Haiti would outweigh the costs they inflict – for instance, throwing poor people off their land, polluting our soil, air and water, and generating further inequalities of wealth and power. As in other countries around the world, we could suffer the resource curse.