Haiti reveals $A12b reconstruction plan

17 Mar 2010, 9:53 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Haiti has unveiled the first draft of its grand reconstruction plan, saying $A12.59b would be needed to help the country rebuild after January's earthquake.

Haiti has unveiled the first draft of its grand reconstruction plan, saying $US11.5 billion ($A12.59 billion) would be needed to help the country rebuild after January's devastating earthquake.

Prepared by the government with the help of the international community, the Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment (PDNA) will provide the framework for discussions at a major donors conference in New York on March 31.

The plan, published online Tuesday, goes far beyond the immediate priorities of post-quake reconstruction and looks at the massive economic and governance challenges Haiti faces if it wants to become a fully functional state.

"This is a process. This is not a final document. This represents a vision which is going to be constantly developed to arrive at a final version," Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour said.

It comes more than two months after the January 12 quake, which flattened large parts of Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns and villages, claiming more than 220,000 lives.

A version of the PDNA, given to 28 delegations from countries and organisations gathered in the Dominican Republic capital Santo Domingo for a preparatory summit ahead of New York, gave a new toll of 222,570.

"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.

Compiled with the help of 250 Haitian and international experts, the study put the total damage from the 7.0-magnitude quake at a massive $US7.9 billion ($A8.65 billion), or a massive 120 per cent of Haiti's gross domestic product.

More than 70 per cent of those losses were sustained by the private sector and $US4.4 billion ($A4.82 billion) worth of damage was to schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, buildings, ports and airports.

"The total amount of money needed stands at $US11.5 billion ($A12.59 billion) and breaks down like this: 50 per cent for the social sector, 17 per cent for infrastructure including housing, and 15 per cent for the environment and disaster risk management," the document said.

Delatour stressed that $US11.5 billion ($A12.59 billion) - a sum reached by World Bank and UN experts - was only a ballpark figure and that estimates for the total reconstruction cost ranged anywhere between eight and $US14 billion ($A15.33 billion).

One focus, already mentioned by President Rene Preval and heavily promoted in the draft, was regenerating the rest of Haiti to end years of congestion and abject poverty in the capital.

"Following the quake, more than 500,000 people were displaced to secondary towns. This new distribution of the population is an opportunity to develop other poles of growth," the plan said.

The plan identified the main short-term priority as preparing those without shelter for heavier rains, which begin in earnest next month, and the hurricane season starting June 1.

Some 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless by the quake and 218,000 survivors are living in makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince at grave risk from flooding and landslides, according to the latest UN figures.

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