HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

January 13, 2012. Haitian government re-locating tent dwellers in Port Au Prince, some protest against lack of housing

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

Haitian officials plan to relocate nearly 20,000 people from the Champ de Mars plaza tent settlement outside the collapsed National Palace, the government said on January 11th. Canada workers would help move the residents to new homes north of Port Au Prince. He said the operation would begin in six weeks. The Canadian government is providing USD 19.9 million over two years to finance the resettlement of the camp dwellers. Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda said the project will also help train 50 Haitian entrepreneurs and create 2,000 jobs for removing debris and rebuilding and repairing homes.

Government officials and foreign aid workers have highlighted certain accomplishments in the two years since the disaster, but some Haitians are not satisfied. Several thousand people marched through downtown Port Au Prince on January 11th to protest what they say is a lack of housing. The Haitian government is building 400 homes near the bay and 3,000 more at the bottom of a mountain north of the capital city.