Yesterday, the President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, attended the 7th meeting of the Board of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), during this meeting the President pleaded the cause of hundreds of thousands of people still living today in tents, and asked to those present to give priority to them "all the efforts and available resources will be needed for this purpose."

The President Martelly took the opportunity to make known the intentions of his administration in regard to the IHRC "My administration intends to continue this successful collaboration, focusing on clear priorities, accelerating the pace of project implementation and increasing, dramatically the amount of available resources, especially disbursements, to better meet the legitimate expectations of the Haitian people."

"...I ask you to give a particular importance to the relocation of the people who are still under tents and makeshift shelters and which deserves to find suitable conditions of life in the best delay" has asked to the IHRC the President Martelly announcing at the same time a program for 30,000 people "On this subject I am pleased to announce that a special program of large scale will be undertaken under the joint leadership of the Presidency, town halls and other national and international partners to allow to 30,000 people to return to their neighborhood of origin and to live in decent housing and urbanized areas. This project focuses on the rehabilitation of 16 neighborhoods related to six priority camps [...]" Concerning the reconstruction of the capital he asks that credits be granted directly to victims "Then the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince and the cities affected by the earthquake, responsibilities and a greater role must be gave to the private sector by providing directly to the victimes of January 12, credits and other financing, which are necessary for the reconstruction of the homes and buildings they have lost..." asked the President Martelly.

Meanwhile, Josef Leitmann the manager of the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) said that Haiti will use most of the money to rebuild neighborhoods battered by the January 12, 2010. Declaring that the new strategy will help move out some of the 634,000 people who live in settlement camps. He also said that people will receive loans to help repair homes so authorities won't have to worry about securing land in the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince.

Less than a year after its creation, the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) has allocated US$237 million to finance 14 reconstruction initiatives, or 71 percent of the US$ 335 million received by donors, according to the Fund's first Annual Report, released today.

"Strong financial support is essential to ensure that the reconstruction process addresses Haiti's key priorities in terms of agriculture, job creation, the investment climate, shelter and education. In partnership with institutions such as the HRF, we commit to build back better, efficiently and for the benefit of all Haitians," said Michel Martelly in the report.

"In the first year we have built a solid foundation to mobilize and allocate resources effectively. However, huge challenges remain. Many reconstruction needs are urgent and the capacity to implement needs to be strengthened," said Josef Leitmann, the Manager of the HRF.

HL/ HaitiLibre