Haiti: Members of parliament get temporary building

Haitian lawmakers have a new building where they can pass laws and study the budget.

The previous building was severely damaged (pictured), in the 2010 earthquake. Lawmakers have had to do their work at a police academy and later in a prefabricated structure supplied by the United Nations.

The new US$1.9 million building was paid for by the U.S. Agency for International Development and built by a Haitian construction firm. It is only temporary. It will house Haiti’s bicameral legislature until a permanent place is built in several years.

The complex has with more than 22,000 square feet of office space.

The building was inaugurated Monday by U.S. Embassy officials and Haitian President Michel Martelly.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.