Haiti: 2 million still living on the streets

July 12, 2010

Six months after a devastating earthquake killed over 220,000 of the nation’s 8.8 million people, some 2 million Haitians are still living on the streets, according to the Fides news agency.

“The situation is still terrible as far as the practicability of the roads; it seems that the earthquake just happened yesterday,” said Archbishop Bernard Auza, the apostolic nuncio. “There is no one to carry away the debris, and we can still not use certain streets in the capital. There are still no offices for some local government institutions. Many people who are living in tents still have nothing and then there are still many poor people who do not even have tents and do not see a way out.”

“As the Church, we are waiting for a sign from the Government in order to be able to act with all our strength,” he added. “For example, some religious institutions cannot begin to rebuild the buildings or houses, because they lack a safety certificate issued by the government for that area. And that part does not depend on us.”

 

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Further information:

• “After 6 months, many of the people who were living in tents still have nothing...many see no way out,” Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti tells Fides (Fides)
• Two million people living on the street, 600,000 homeless (Fides)
• Catholic relief to Haiti: $46.8 million has aided 2.3 million people (CWN, 7/9)