A Montreal group is blasting Ottawa’s earthquake relief in Haiti for its lack of transparency and poor results.
The Coalition for Haiti (CPH), citing a report by rearcher Paul Cliche of the Universite de Montreal, notes that conditions remain dire in Haiti following the earthquake that devastated the country on January 12, 2010, destroying about 200,000 homes and leaving 1.3 million people homeless.
Cliche said that it’s impossible to determine who received over two thirds of the $554,8 million reconstruction money Canada sent to Haiti.
“We have comprehensive data on funded projects but it comes from the UN report,” said Cliche. “The aggregate data notes that two-thirds of the reconstruction aid ($554.8 million) falls in the category 'unspecified.' So we do not have a global vision," said Cliche.
About 113,595 temporary shelters were built following the disaser, according to a UN report and many of those affected are still living in what were meant to be a stopgap measure.
According to UN data published Sept. 30, 2013 , 171,974 people are still living in 306 temporary sites and the reconstruction effort is only 13 percent complete.
“As they say in Haiti and in some developing countries, there is nothing more permanent than what is temporary,” said Cliche.
The group also criticizes the effort for focusing strictly on advancing Canada's economic interests rather than helping international development and combating poverty.
Cliche noted that Haitian institutions have been ignored in the construction efforts
"Overall, It's so disappointing, considering all the talk of rebuilding we heard after the earthquake," said Cliche.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
