Haiti island unscathed by quake, but tourists stay away FEATURE 05/05/2010

Haiti island unscathed by quake, but tourists stay away

FEATURE 05/05/2010 ILE A VACHE — There are no blue-helmeted UN troops patrolling the streets of Ile a Vache, and schools on this picturesque island did not close after the massive earthquake that devastated much of the rest of the country. Even as the rest of Haiti struggled to clear away debris and dispose of their dead, life after the quake has gone on as much as it did before for the 15,000 inhabitants of this unspoiled paradise. The tiny island, off the southwest peninsula of Haiti a half-hour by boat from the town of Les Cayes, boasts among its many pleasures a vista of rolling hills and crystalline waters lapping its white-sand beaches. But despite being spared the physical ravages of the quake, the island and its growing tourist industry also have been hit hard by the disaster. “No tourists have come since the quake,” said Didier Boulard, a Frenchman who says that not one stone fell out of place as a result of the temblor that leveled entire city blocks in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100505com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Nightmare at Comelec square FRONTLINE Yellows up to something again FEATURE Haiti island unscathed by quake, but tourists stay away SILVER LINING Erap up, Villar down DIE HARD III Apologia focus Myanmar cyclone victims struggle two years on HE SAYS Of surveys and trending SHE SAID Surveys in, sour grapes out!