By Ericka Blount Danois
As thousands of Haitians continue to brave the rainy season with makeshift tents and no clear plan from the government for permanent housing, BET founder Bob Johnson has a plan. Amid criticism that wealthy black entrepreneurs haven’t done enough for catastrophic events that affect the black community – the reconstruction for Haiti’s earthquake or rebuilding after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, for example – comes Bob Johnson, a man that’s simultaneously criticized for the images that appeared on BET, leading to the corrosion of black culture, and revered as a trailblazer for bringing an all-black network to cable.
Johnson’s investment company, RLJ Companies, partnered with Global Building Solutions following the earthquake to develop quick and cost-effective mass housing. The joint venture was named “Caribbean Opportunity Holdings,” which facilitated a structured insulated panel-manufacturing facility in Haiti following the earthquake.
In a press release, Chief Operating Officer Lisa Pickrum said:
“We know that putting a manufacturing facility in-country as opposed to shipping all of the materials from outside will create more jobs and make it cheaper to make the houses. Pickrum also said that in looking to help people in the long term, they were looking to “move beyond aid in to profit-sharing businesses.”
The company has now announced a project for factories in Haiti that will build construction materials on the island.
A press release from Bob Johnson says the two factories will build earthquake- and- hurricane-resistant panels for housing in Haiti’s quake-battered capital and in the city of Cap-Haitien. Johnson announced the project on Wednesday during a visit to Port-au-Prince, where he met with Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
Caribbean Opportunity Holdings has also built a resort in Liberia, West Africa, the first hotel construction completed in Liberia in 25 years.
