Catholics Widow’s Mite To Haiti Quake
Victims
The
Catholic Archdiocese in Abuja Central Nigeria says it has raised
about seven point five million naira to support the victims of
the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
The Archbishop of Abuja, the Most Reverend John Onaiyekan, said
the financial support for Haiti was discussed at the last
Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Onaiyekan said the money had been handed to the Catholic
Secretariat which is coordinating the support to Haiti victims
by the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
New rebuilding strategy
Haiti was devastated by a strong earthquake on January 12th,
which killed thousands of people and rendered hundreds of
thousands homeless.
The Haitian government has launched a new effort to thin out the
tent cities around the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The effort revolves around registering residents of the camps
and determining whether their homes can be rebuilt.
If their homes can be repaired or rebuilt, tent city residents
will be sent home to get to work. Where rebuilding is
impossible, the government will encourage those in temporary
settlements to move in with relatives or friends.
On Tuesday, Organization of International Migration workers
fanned out through Port-au-Prince's Champ de Mars, home to an
estimated 16,000 people, distributing color-coded coins that
residents will use to begin the registration process.
The Champ de Mars effort is a pilot program for a broader effort
throughout Port-au-Prince.
Mark Turner, a spokesman for the Organization of International
Migration, said: ’’ If the home has been damaged, teams will
be sent to remove the rubble, or a structural engineer will be
sent to see if it can be fixed.’’
Change of plans
The effort represents a turnabout from the Haitian government's
earlier strategy of building mass camps for those who lost
homes.
That strategy was faulted for creating public health risks and
for cutting inhabitants off from their livelihoods in
Port-au-Prince. In addition, much of the land in and around
Port-au-Prince is privately held, with landowners reluctant to
loan or sell their property to the displaced.
Those who must remain in the camps can expect the government to
organize and sanitize the settlements, according to the
Organization of International Migration.
The government strategy for shrinking Haiti's tent cities
coincides with a new U.N. effort to clear rubble from the
country's residential properties and entice people from
temporary settlements back home -- even if their homes have
collapsed. The United Nations says it's preferable to have
people living in tents on their own land than in sprawling
encampments.
Haiti has 415 temporary settlements housing roughly
550,000 earthquake victims, according to the Organization of
International Migration.
The push to thin the camps was provoked by the approach of
Haiti's rainy season, which could start as soon as mid-March.
The government-led effort got under way Tuesday, focusing on the
most overcrowded camps first. Of the 415 camps, just 21 house 40
percent of Haiti's displaced population.
NAN/Qasim/Yinka with additional story from CNN World
