Trafigura at Work
Investing in Puerto Rico's future
In one of the worst environmental and energy emergencies in Puerto
Rico’s history, a blast and fire tore through and levelled the
former CAPECO fuel depot in Bayamón in October 2009. In May 2011,
Puma Energy Caribe acquired the assets that once belonged to CAPECO
and the Gulf network in Puerto Rico.
Click here to
learn more about how Puma Energy is turning the facility around for
the good of the economy, the environment and for the surrounding
communities.
“Two years on from one of Puerto Rico’s most
devastating environmental incidents, and only six months since they
acquired the company, it gives me enormous hope to see the positive
strides that Puma Energy Caribe is taking to create jobs and
rehabilitate the facility. We wish them every luck in transforming
the site into an environmentally-sound and industry-leading hub for
Puerto Rico.”
Governor Luis Fortuño
After touring the former CAPECO fuel depot, October 24, 2011
The 2010 Haiti Earthquake: Reflections from the Trafigura
Foundation one year on
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 12 January 2010, 16:52 local time. Life
as usual in town: people going back and forth between the market
and their homes, others wandering in the overheated and dusty
streets in search of a job, of some food or of some special deal,
colourful “tap-tap” taxis roaming boldly through the battered
streets hooting their horns as loud as can be, the air full of
noisy Creole music broadcasted by nasal sound-machines…
16:53 – a sudden and deep rumbling noise runs through the town.
Within seconds, Port-au-Prince shanty towns are entirely
annihilated, concrete houses destroyed, major historical buildings
turned into ruins. Tens of thousands are buried alive or crushed to
death under the rubble. The capital city has just been hit by a
7.3-magnitude earthquake, with several other aftershocks to come
until several days later. The earthquake will soon turn out to be
one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history with close
to 250,000 casualties, over 300,000 wounded, scores of children
orphaned or loosing trace of their families and millions left
homeless.
Within hours, the whole world realized the exceptional dimension
of the catastrophe. A huge planetary momentum of solidarity started
to build, at all levels – public and private, governments,
charities, individuals… Similar to the period following the 2004
tsunami in South-East Asia, each and every person felt a compelling
need to help a country already plagued for decades by chronic
poverty and poor governance.
Turning generous intentions into genuine donations can often be
a challenge. First, people have no clue as to who they should be
giving their money. The available “charity offer” is so wide and so
diverse that it can be highly confusing. Then, after days and weeks
of intensive media coverage, signs of “donor fatigue” can appear
whereby many are deterred from contributing to the relief efforts,
thinking their modest individual gift may simply be useless given
the millions pledged throughout the world. And last, because the
charity world, just as any other field of activity, also has its
flaws and mishaps – exaggerated focus from the media on its
inability to meet now, all the needs in the field can sometimes
stir a vague, yet underserved, feeling of inefficiency of the
relief organizations, hence further discouraging potential
donors.
In the 67 Trafigura offices around the world, our employees
immediately indicated a strong willingness to help and contribute
in some way. The Trafigura Foundation was the perfect mechanism
which could help overcome the aforementioned hindrances to giving,
and could thus turn fast this hope into reality.
A total of US$66,000 was collected from employees across the
company’s operations, not only in the more wealthy continents of
Europe and North America, but also in Africa, Asia and Latin
America. These funds were then transferred to the Foundation where,
as is standard practice, the figure was matched and increased to
over US$130,000.
With extensive expertise on issues relating to emergency and
relief operations, the Trafigura Foundation analyzed needs in Haiti
and their foreseeable evolution over time, and then looked for, and
identified, appropriate, reliable operators in the field.
Ultimately, just days after the disaster, two-thirds of the
total US$130,000 donation had been granted to chosen partners:
A development organization long-established in the rural
northern province of Haiti (“Initiative Développement”) who very
swiftly adjusted its programme to allow for a smooth resettlement
of the many thousands who escaped the city of Port-au-Prince to
find a safe haven in the rural areas;
A shelter for children in the capital (“Aide Haïti”). This local
charity which was founded 15 years ago by a Swiss-Haitian
paediatrician to offer refuge for children enslaved to work for
wealthy families, and which opened wide its facilities for hundreds
of children having lost their families in the disaster.
In full transparency with all those who made a donation, the
Foundation based its selection of the recipients on a number of
criteria based on a rational analysis of the situation rather than
on sheer emotional reactions. First, we wanted the donation to
reach charities with high records of efficiency, performance and
relevance. Then, we targeted small- or medium-size charities, with
good knowledge of the country gained through a longstanding history
of local operations but little exposure to public generosity and
little access to the massive money channels dedicated to Haiti.
Finally, we opted for a two-step approach, whereby two-thirds of
the money collected was disbursed immediately, contributing to the
relief operations addressing the acute immediate needs. The
remaining one-third was kept in reserve for longer-term
rehabilitation and reconstruction activities after one year.
Indeed, in such situations, this particular phase, which by essence
takes place after the dust of the emergency has settled, comes
after media have turned their eye elsewhere in the world and thus
garners far less attention and financial resources from public
generosity. Hence, it appeared essential to us that a significant
part of the money collected be kept reserved to cover such needs,
as critical – if not more – as those resulting from the immediate
aftermath of the earthquake.
As a conclusion, Trafigura’s response to the disaster showed how
the Foundation, established only 3 years previously, could provide
an appropriate and powerful channel to consolidate and leverage the
generosity of its employees. Moreover, Trafigura demonstrated how
it could make an immediate, real and lasting difference to the
lives of Haiti’s victims.
Vincent Faber
Executive Director, Trafigura Foundation
January 2011