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(U.S.) 5025 West Dante Avenue. Tampa, Fl. 33629. Tel: 813-727-6638; Fax: 813-837-8049
(Haïti) 293 Rue de l'Enterrement. Port-au-Prince, Haïti; Tel: 509-3767-1717; Fax: 2222-1849
Intl. Tel. Contact: 813-727-6638; Email: regine.barjon@bioteksolutions.com
Secretary Clinton
Secretary of State. United States
August 27th, 2010
RE: Request from Léogà ne Farmers Revitalization and Darbonne Mill
Secretary Clinton,
The farmers of Léogà ne in partnership with BioTek Solutions, Inc/BioTek Haiti S.A. (BioTek), - a U.S based Haitian-American company which is entering into its 4th year of partnership with the Government of Haiti (GOH) to co-manage the Darbonne Mill in Léogà ne, - request your assistance towards the development of the Léogà ne Agro-Industry sector. As a result of continuous annual flooding of the region which results in loss of life, homes, crops and cattle, the farmers of Léogà ne and BioTek seek the immediate inclusion of Regional Léogà ne within any planned U.S emergency fund and/or the USAID Winner's program, with a priority on the following:
1) The clean-up of the Léogà ne regional watersheds and rivers, to include watershed and rivers' sources located in the upper Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince region of Laboule and Boutilier.
2) The repair of the Bas NoLivos bridge in Léogà ne
3)The purchase of necessary equipment and machinery for long-term maintenance of watersheds, rivers and basic inner-road infrastructure
4)The purchase of a maximum volume of feedstock/sugar cane from farmers
Please see attached list of farmers' requests.
Léogà ne was 90% destroyed by the recent earthquake, but continues to represent a great potential source of social and economic asset and stability for Haiti. The farmers of Léogà ne and BioTek have worked assiduously towards the revitalization of Léogà ne's staple agriculture products via the optimization of the Darbonne Mill toward the following benefits and results:
Creation of 32,000 jobs, - thereby providing food/care/employment in Léogà ne to 240,000 people
Produce 20 MW of green and clean electricity from sugar cane bagasse within 12 to 18 months of BioTek/Darbonne Public Private Management Agreement Contract.
Be the first local green energy enterprise to produce 30 MW of electricity in partnership with other green energy companies
The BioTek/Darbonne Project has been targeted to be part of DOE Haiti Electricity Master Plan as a model and site for additional green energy plants to include solar, wind and hydro.
Increase national energy generation by up to 25%
Reduce Haiti's exposure to swift global fuel price fluctuations and usage of scarce currency reserves
Provide a reliable and viable market for regional sugar cane planters, who have few remaining buyers with the ability to absorb their harvest due to the destruction of 90% of the regional distilleries as a result of the earthquake
Displace 40% of sugar imports with the production of 100,000 metric tons of sugar
Lower and consistent annual (over 3 to 5 years) cost reduction of wholesale electricity procurements for EDH from BioTek-Darbonne/EDH agreement for maximum customer outreach.
Carbon Emission Reduction/offset based on the optimization of sugar cane Energy Self-sufficiency
A portion of BioTek profit will be directly re-invested in agricultural, irrigation and energy works, as has been the BioTek norm over the past 3 years
BioTek Participating Farmers Program will remunerate farmers with 10% of BioTek annual net profits.
With the revitalization of regional Léogà ne's agro-industry, and to help bring the Darbonne Mill up to full operating capacity, we assistance to secure this year's Zafra or sugar cane season (2011) which begins in September 2010 in order to start work immediately with the following:
- Purchase of Léogà ne's current available volume of up to 240,000 MT of sugar cane
(Please note that Léogà ne itself has over 120,000 MT of sugar cane. Therefore, including the sugar cane availability from adjoining Grand-Goà ve, Petit-Goà ve and Miraguà ne, - as part of BioTek plan for Mill optimum capacity processing/production and Community Enterprise Building will increase processing volume to 240,000 MT to expand and to produce 24,000 MT of sugar and syrup and electricity over 8 months as opposed to the average 2 to 3 months )
- Direct solicitation for technical assistance from farmers regarding clean-up of watersheds and river basins of the Léogà ne Rivers of Larouyonne, la Momence and Dessources;
- Direct and specific request from the farmers who met with Former President Clinton for the repair of destroyed Bas Nolivos Bridge which represents a handicap for the regional provincial community due to inability of farmers to cross over to sell their goods, or to buy needed basic supplies, or for the mill to purchase and collect sugar cane, - resulting in the constriction of the Léogà ne market by an estimated 50%.
Thank you,
Best regards.
Planter: _____________________________________________
Planter______________________________________________
Planter_______________________________________________
Planter_______________________________________________
Regine Barjon
Marketing Director for the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce
President
BioTek Solutions, Inc./BioTek Haiti S.A.
EM:
regine.barjon@bioteksolutions.com
(US)
Tel:
813-727-6638; Fax: 813-837-8049
(Haiti)
Tel: 011509- 3622-5855
CC: Secretary Hillary Clinton, Carlos Odio, Mr. Rajiv Shaw, Mrs. Melissa Rosser, Mr. Russell Porter, President Clinton, Gregory Milne, Ami Desai
