MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chileans say government responded “late and inefficiently” to earthquake

President Bachelet allegedly was afraid to have the Army back in the streets

Most Chileans are unhappy with their government's response to the catastrophic earthquake and squarely blame President Michelle Bachelet for shortcomings, according to a poll published over the weekend.

The poll published by the daily newspaper El Mercurio found 72% of Chileans believe the government responded late and inefficiently to re-establish order after the earthquake, and 48% believe it was because Bachelet did not want to end her term by sending soldiers into the streets. Another 80% believe aid delivery has been too slow and inefficient.

The survey of 600 adults, conducted in Santiago on Thursday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Bachelet waited 36 hours before declaring the “state of catastrophe” that put the military in charge of the disaster area, and significant aid didn't reach some hard-hit communities for two or three days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

But the government since then has rolled out a massive effort, deploying planes, ships, helicopters, trucks, heavy equipment and thousands of troops to deliver tons of aid flowing in from government storehouses, Chilean businesses and foreign governments and aid groups.

At least 500,000 homes were destroyed, but the figure could reach 1.5 million once surveys are complete, Housing Minister Patricia Poblete said.

United Nations agencies and many countries have flown in planeloads of relief, including 79 metric tons of the World Food Program's high-energy biscuits and other food, enough to feed 35,000 children for five days.

Chilean air force planes are landing every half-hour in Concepcion, and a national telethon collected 58 million US dollars Saturday - twice what was hoped for.

That's just a tiny fraction of what will be needed for the recovery effort: Reconstruction cost estimates range around 30 billion US dollars which is a huge sum for a country with an annual budget of 42 billion, even though Chile has saved more than 11 billion in copper profits from the state-owned Codelco mining company.

With the tsunami wiping away entire communities and stranding wreckage miles inland in mainland Chile, the death toll has been difficult to determine. After first reporting higher figures, the Chilean Interior Department said it would release only the number of identified dead: 452 as of the latest announcement.