Maggie Stephenson, technical adviser for Haiti to the United Nations Agency for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat), declared Thursday during a debate at the Brookings Institution, a reflection group based in Washington, that she was "horrified" by the slow pace of the reconstruction in Haiti. According to her "it is necessary to train each mason available."

Since January 12, 2010, only 20,000 construction workers habe been trained, which is 10 times less than in Pakistan, which had been hit by a similar event in 2005 said Ms. Stephenson.

"Uncontrolled urbanization in poor countries, make people more vulnerable to major natural hazards. Globally, over the past five years, nearly 14 million people have lost their homes because of these natural phenomena" recalled the technical advisor.

Today, about 600,000 people in Haiti are still living under tents or makeshift shelters.

HL/ HaitiLibre