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Haitians remember victims of earthquake 4 years ago
Haitian President Michel Martelly (l) and first lady Sophia Martelly (r) lay a wreath at a monument in memory of the victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. PHOTO/Jean Marc Herve Abelard/AP
Haitians paused Sunday to remember the tens of thousands of people who died in a catastrophic earthquake 4 years ago, holding somber low-key commemorations on a national day of reflection.
President Michel Martelly and first lady Sophia Martelly placed a bouquet of white flowers at a potter’s field north of the capital of Port-au-Prince that is being turned into an official memorial for those killed.
The pair observed a minute of silence facing a plaque placed at a large piece of rubble, with the inscription: “January 12, 2010. We will never forget you.”
Martelly said much had been accomplished in Haiti since the disaster.
“Four years later, I think we have moved forward tremendously,” Martelly told reporters, noting a decline in the number of people still without housing and the number of hotels being built. “Of course, a lot remains to be done.”
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck outside Haiti’s capital on January 12, 2010, and thousands of buildings toppled in Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities. Officials say more than 300,000 died, but no one knows for certain how many people lost their lives.
An estimated 1.5 million people were left living in gloomy tent camps that became symbols of the devastation and desperation. The number of displaced people has since fallen to 146,000 in a decline attributed to a combination of voluntary departures, rental subsidies and evictions.
The day in the capital began like any other Sunday with churchgoers dressed in their best skirts and slacks wending their way through streets noticeably clear of the rubble that clogged them long after the quake. Haiti’s radio and television stations played somber programs and music. The Martelly administration declared a day of remembrance and reflection, with the Haitian flag flown at half-staff and clubs ordered closed.
Almost all the rubble in the capital has finally been carted off and many of the tent encampments are less visible, replaced by construction sites. However, the reconstruction effort has been relatively slow, with promised aid money slow to come because of the reluctance of donors to provide funds amid the global economic downturn.
Despite the challenges faced by the country, there has been movement in the right direction – with gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 4.3 percent in 2013 compared to 2.02 percent in 2012. Foreign direct investments also increased by 25 percent in the same period, while the inflation rate fell to 4.5 percent in 2013 against 6.5 percent recorded in 2012.
Source: Associated Press