DERV demand
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"There's a big demand for diesels in Haiti." That news shattered my dreams of one day escaping to a daribbean paradise. I had dreamed of grass skirts and coconut oil — instead its overalls and diesel. Anyway, Perkins were quick off the mark when they heard it. Through their agent on the island, Claude Duval, they are reconditioning diesel engines for home use and eventually for export.
Claude explains, "Haiti is not a rich country(another shattered dream) "and the ordinary operator cannot afford to buy a new engine, nor can he get credit terms-. That is why demand for reconditioned units is so great. Add to this the fuel cost factor — petrol is twice as dear as diesel — and the reason for the diesel engine's popularity is apparent. But what of the price of progress?
Claude Duval's engine factory will be the first large industrial complex on the island. Then will come high wages, union negotiators, industrial disputes, and all the human foibles that lead to industrial, social and domestic aggravation. Oh dear, how sad: my dream of paradise sinks slowly over the distant blue horizon .. .