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PM: Quake-hit Haiti needs decade to rise
Thursday 28 January 2010 9:29
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive says it will take about 10 years to reconstruct the country after a deadly earthquake rattled the capital. "What we're looking for is a long-term commitment ... At least five to 10 years," he told an international aid conference in Canada on Monday. "The people of Haiti will need more and more and more in order to complete the reconstruction," Bellerive added. The January 12 quake in the capital city of Port-au-Prince claimed the lives of around 150,000 people and left more than one million homeless. The purpose of the Montreal conference is to assess the most pressing needs and begin planning Haiti's long-term recovery. Donor countries had agreed to hold a conference on aid to Haiti at the UN headquarters in New York in March. Haiti's President Rene Preval urged the international community to immediately airlift an additional 200,000 tents and 36 million ready-to-eat ration packs before the country's rainy season begins in May. Meanwhile, there are no reports of new casualties after a 4.7 magnitude aftershock rattled Haiti Sunday. The United Nations says more than 230,000 Haitians have fled the now shattered capital, Port-au-Prince. The mass exodus has put a huge burden on the small towns around Port-au-Prince. Officials fear the spread of chaos outside the capital.
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