Haitian government,UN expect to settle quake refugees
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As the hurricane season is approaching, the Haitian government and UN agencies have called for efforts to speed up post-quake reconstruction work such as the relocation and settlement of refugees.
Haitian President Rene Garcia Preval said Saturday that he was upset about the coming hurricane season and believed the best way to shelter the quake victims was to provide them with necessary materials to help them rebuild their homes themselves.
He denied reports that the government was to relocate the capital city, saying sanitation in Port-au-Prince has much improved.
John Holmes, spokeman for UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Friday that to guard against natural disasters likely to be brought about by the hurricane season, it is important to reconstruct houses, strengthen rooftops and rebuild Haiti's meteorological early warning system.
Holmes said that the United Nations would concentrate on helping the Haitian reconstruction work in the most proper way to help Haitians build up capability to prevent and combat natural disasters.
He said the world body was now distrbuting plastic tents to the quake victims, and would later provide them with makeshift houses.
Holmes also said that although medical services and water supply have much improved, Haitian refugees are still suffering from hunger because of the shortage of food aid.
The Atlantic hurricane season is officially from June 1 to November 30, and usually inflict severe calamities upon Carribean island nations. In August 2008, three consecutive hurricanes -- Gustav, Hanna and Ike -- devastated Haiti, killing 800 and leaving more than 800,000 homeless.
