Statement: many Haiti earthquake survivors will remain at risk until country is rebuilt
12 January 2012
On the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, GOAL’s Country Director in Port-au-Prince, Derek Butler, has warned that unless the international community fulfills its promises to rebuild the country, hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors will remain without permanent homes, and extremely vulnerable to another natural disaster.Two years on from the catastrophe that killed more than 230,000 people, approximately 550,000 of the 1.3 million people initially made homeless are still living in temporary camps scattered throughout the capital.
“The aid community has achieved a great deal in Haiti, from the emergency response in the weeks following the quake, to the critical assistance they continue to provide today, despite limited resources,” said Butler.
“GOAL has recently completed a €12 million US Government-funded response programme, providing 2,000 homes for 10,000 people, and over 800 public latrines and 200 wash blocks in earthquake-affected communities.
“But agencies like us can only do so much. The country requires massive infrastructural investment and we cannot provide this. This can only come from the international community.”
More than US$5 billion in aid was pledged for Haiti in the months following the disaster, but the vast majority of this money has yet to reach the people on the ground.
“Where are the governments that vowed so solemnly in the months following the disaster to rebuild the country,” asked Mr. Butler, “Are they going to release the money they pledged, or are they going to admit that they have reneged on promises they made to the Haitian people?
“The reality is that if the international community doesn’t fulfill its promises, Haiti will remain only partially restored, and its people just as vulnerable as they were before the earthquake of January 2010.”
Ends