CNN International reports that in July 2010, the executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved Wednesday the cancellation of Haiti’s $268 million debt to the fund.
The board also approved a three-year request by authorities to support Haiti’s reconstruction and growth program.
The decisions are part of an effort to support Haiti’s longer-term reconstruction plans after the January 12 earthquake http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/21/haiti.debt.imf/?hpt=T1#fbid=yLLYwgdwGL3&wom=false .
While this is generally considered good news, some facts:
Haiti before the earthquake
- More than 70% of people in Haiti were living on less than $US2 per day
- 86% of people in Port au Prince were living in slum conditions – mostly tightly-packed, poorly-built, concrete buildings.
- 80% of education in Haiti was provided in often poor-quality private schools, the state system generally provided better education but provided far too few places
- Half of people in Port-au-Prince had no access to latrines and only one-third has access to tap water.
The Impact of the earthquake
- Two million people living in the most affected area
- 220,000 dead
- Over 180,000 homes damaged or destroyed, 1.5m homeless
- There are now 19 million cubic metres of rubble and debris in PaP – enough to fill a line of shipping containers stretching end to end from London to Beirut.
- One and a half million people living in camps including over 100,000 at critical risk from storms and flooding
- There are over 1,100 camps and 54 of these are home to 5,000 people or more
- Over 600,000 people have left their home area in Port-au-Prince and mostly are staying with host families
- Nearly 5,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed
http://www.dec.org.uk/item/425 (July 2010)
Perhaps a speedier response from the IMF on debt and reconstruction assistance would have been more appropriate.
For a more comprehensive look at Haiti for facts figures and articles, visit the MCEER page on the subject.http://mceer.buffalo.edu/infoservice/disasters/Haiti-Earthquake-2010.asp
Written by : Deyika Nzeribe