Written by      Thursday, 18 March 2010 16:55    PDF Print E-mail
Haiti estimates $11.5bn needed for reconstruction

Life carries on amid the rubble in Haiti's capital Port-au-PrinceHaiti will need $11.5bn (£7.5bn) to rebuild after the devastating earthquake in January, the country's government estimates.

The amount is a rough estimate of money required for a complete overhaul of the impoverished country, officials say.

The plan, co-authored by international aid agencies, will be put to donors at a conference on Haiti on 31 March.

More than 220,000 people were killed in the quake, which is thought to have caused around $8bn of damage.

"This is a process. This is not a final document," Haiti's Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Estimates for the total reconstruction could be as high as $14bn, he added.

'Unprecedented'

The reconstruction plan, known as the Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment (PDNA), will be discussed at a major conference on Haiti in New York at the end of this month.

The document put the total cost of earthquake damage at $7.9bn - 120% of Haiti's GDP.

More than 70% of those losses were sustained by the private sector. But damage was widespread, affecting schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, buildings, ports and airports.

"The earthquake has created an unprecedented situation, amplified by the fact that it struck the country's most populous region and its economic and administrative centre," the assessment said.

The plan emphasises that the short-term priority is to prepare those left homeless by the quake for April's heavy rains and for the June hurricane season.

Nearly 220,000 quake survivors are living in temporary camps in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where there is a high risk of flooding and landslides.



Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
Reddit! Del.icio.us! JoomlaVote! Google! Live! Facebook! StumbleUpon! Yahoo! Free social bookmarking plugins and extensions for Joomla! websites!
 

Add comment


Security code
Refresh

Your are currently browsing this site with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).

Your current web browser must be updated to version 7 of Internet Explorer (IE7) to take advantage of all of template's capabilities.

Why should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7? Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer from the ground up, with better security, new capabilities, and a whole new interface. Many changes resulted from the feedback of millions of users who tested prerelease versions of the new browser. The most compelling reason to upgrade is the improved security. The Internet of today is not the Internet of five years ago. There are dangers that simply didn't exist back in 2001, when Internet Explorer 6 was released to the world. Internet Explorer 7 makes surfing the web fundamentally safer by offering greater protection against viruses, spyware, and other online risks.

Get free downloads for Internet Explorer 7, including recommended updates as they become available. To download Internet Explorer 7 in the language of your choice, please visit the Internet Explorer 7 worldwide page.