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Clinton cites exodus effect from Haitian capital
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-26 10:58
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 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chat during a bilateral meeting during a conference discussing the future of Haiti, Monday, Jan. 25, 2010 in Montreal.[Agencies]  |
MONTREAL: An effective recovery strategy for Haiti must take into account a sudden rush of thousands of quake survivors from Port-au-Prince into the countryside, where the economy cannot sustain them, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday.
Clinton, speaking to reporters during a break in a daylong conference intended to review and improve the delivery of short-term aid as well as chart a course for long-term recovery, said she was encouraged by the analysis of Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. He told the conference that the exodus from Port-au-Prince has added a new twist to the post-quake challenge.
"The distribution of people (and) their needs have changed," Bellerive said. "We have to reassess the whole country," in terms of job creation and requirements for housing.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told the final news conference that Monday's talks had produced "the beginnings of a roadmap" for helping get Haiti back on its feet, as well as a "shared vision" of the island nation's longer-term rebuilding.
Earlier, Clinton said after a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that she was pleased to see Haitian leaders addressing this problem.
"I was quite heartened to hear the prime minister say that as part of our multilateral efforts to assist Haiti we should look at how we decentralize economic opportunity and work with the Haitian government and people to support resettlement, which they are doing on their own as people leave Port-au-Prince and return to the countryside from which most of them came," she said.
Harper said he shared Clinton's view.
"It does also indicate to us the need for us to work closely with the Haitians, who do understand the conditions on the ground maybe a little better than some of us with high intentions but a little farther-away view," Harper told reporters.
In her remarks to an afternoon session that was closed to press coverage, Clinton stressed the importance of not dictating to Haiti what its priorities should be.
"Ultimately, the Haitian people will be the ones to lift up their country and chart their own destiny," she said, according to a copy of her prepared remarks.
