Jean-Max Bellerive

Reports out of Haiti say that there has been relatively little progress in the relief and reconstruction efforts since the quake that, according to Haitian authorities, killed over 250,000 people, injured some 300,000, and left over a million homeless.

In the weeks and months immediately following the quake, the international community reacted with tremendous emotion to provide assistance in kind and cash to the government and people of Haiti. However, reporters currently on the ground in Haiti, say not much has changed in the rubble strewn city and surrounding towns since January 12. According to one report Port-au-Prince “still looks like a bomb just dropped on it. The situation is blatantly overwhelming.”

Footage shows that the most of the rubble of crumbled buildings have not been cleared; city streets are still blocked by debris, and thousands of people are living in tent camps awaiting more sturdy permanent housing. There are many reports of insufficient medical facilities and a shortage of medical personnel, and unfortunately one report stated that warehouses in the city are stocked with urgently needed medical supplies, including antibiotics, while a young girl lies near to death because she needs the medicine.

A problem hindering the progress of relief and reconstruction in Haiti is that although the international community, including several international organizations, has pledged over $1 billion to assist, only some $120,000 million have been disbursed to the Haitian government to fund relief and recovery work.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in a televised interview from Port-au-Prince on Monday night, admitted the relief process was slower than anticipated, and that one of the problems was the overlapping of international agencies and groups currently trying to undertake relief work there. He said he is committed to creating a system for the funds to flow smoothly.

A representative from the UN in Haiti said although 250,000 cubic meters of rubble was removed since the earthquake, it was only a tiny portion of the 20 million cubic meters of rubble that exists. “The vast amount of rubble is overwhelming,” the representative said.

Prentis Abbot of Cutler Ridge worked with a Miami debris-removal company in streets near to the damaged presidential palace in Port-au-Prince. After a month in Haiti, Abbot returned to Miami. He said, “The work is overwhelming; removing all that rubble is like pouring cups of water from the ocean.”

According to international experts it could take up to 20 years to clear all the rubble in Haiti. A housing expert said it could take up to two years before the first permanent housing structures are built.

Nurse Pauline Wright of Tamarac, who was part of a medical team that recently returned from Haiti, also described the situation as “overwhelming.”

“The Haitian government must be commended that there is no wide outspread of disease. However, with so many people living in tent camps, health, security and shelter remains very fragile. The common prayer in Haiti is that there will no storms this year. If one hits, this could be worse than the earthquake.”

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has said, “The real priority of the government is to protect the population from the next hurricane season.” This priority preempts the need to remove the widespread mountains of rubble or resettle the homeless.

The U.N. estimates that well over a million people are living in tent camps. These residents include middle-class Haitians who also had their homes destroyed. Another UN representative said with the size of the homeless population, it is possible that in another six months, most of them will still be in the camps.