MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Haiti reconstruction bill estimated in 11.5 billion USD

More than 220.000 people were killed by the quake

Haiti will need 11.5 billion US dollars 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 8 billion USD of damage.

“This is a process. This is not a final document,” Haiti's Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour was quoted as saying by the French news agency.
Estimates for the total reconstruction could be as high as 14 billion, he added.

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.

The document put the total cost of earthquake damage at 7.9 billion or 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.