HAITI ESTIMATES $11.5BN NEEDED FOR RECONSTRUCTION

Haiti estimates $11.5bn needed for reconstruction
Life carries on amid the rubble in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince

Haiti 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.

Nearly 220,000 quake survivors are living in temporary camps

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.