SANTO DOMINGO.— The neighboring country of Haiti yesterday paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the 2010 earthquake with a day of remembrance and reflection, flying the national flag at half-mast.
The tragedy of January 12, 2010, officially left 222,570 dead and one and a half million homeless, over 300,000 buildings damaged and losses amounting to $7.9 billion dollars.
Five years after the terrible event there are still 85,432 homeless Haitians living in 123 camps, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration.
In the midst of the crisis following the earthquake, a cholera epidemic broke out with affected 635,000 people and caused more than nine thousand deaths up until 2013. This was a further tragedy that underlined the effects of the first.
Haitian President, Michel Martelly, has assured that during the past five years the country has only received four billion of the $12.4 billion pledged in support by the international community.
Haiti today does not want donations or aid, but investment, Martelly stated, criticizing the fact that the majority of donations have flowed through NGOs instead of being directed through the State.
The result of this failed commitment by the international community and the way in which this aid has been manipulated is evident today in the feeble reconstruction of the country.
The cities show little signs of the earthquake as most of the damaged buildings were demolished and in some places new buildings have emerged whilst hundreds of schools have been rebuilt.
But the country remains extremely poor with over 40% unemployment and more than six of the 10.4 million inhabitants living below the poverty line.
The lack of housing and employment opportunities have generated serious scarcity, growing insecurity and an increasing exodus that is affecting other nations, especially the neighboring Dominican Republic.
This explains, for example, why over the past eight days the Dominican Army has apprehended and deported 13,300 undocumented immigrants at the border, including entire families who make the “move” with their scarce belongings.
Internally, the work to restore the country has been hampered since last year by radical opposition protests demanding that the delayed parliamentary and municipal elections be held. Haiti was due to call legislative elections for 20 senators, 112 deputies, 140 municipal authorities and 1,140 community representatives in 2014.
The government has attempted to resolve the political crisis with the resignation of several figures and the signing of an agreement between the three branches of government that extends the parliamentary mandate in order to facilitate the holding of the elections.
But the negotiations have made little headway as every proposal from the presidency has been challenged by opponents.
Luckily Martelly managed to strike a deal with 23 political parties to defuse the pre-electoral crisis, which eased tensions just as commemorations for the fifth anniversary of the earthquake were due to begin.
