President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) brought relief supplies to the Dominican Republic for delivery to Haiti and proposed a long-term reconstruction project to help the country’s earthquake-ravaged ally get back on its feet, hoping to inspire more countries to follow suit.
Ma, who arrived in the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning, delivered 10 tonnes of relief supplies. They were to be transported by land from the Dominican Republic to Haiti.
During his whirlwind visit, Ma held a joint meeting with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez Reyna and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive at the presidential building.
The trio did not touch on the issue of debt reduction or cancellation for Haiti, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said.
The Paris Club, the UK and, most recently, Canada have openly called for two of Haiti’s biggest creditors — Taiwan and Venezuela — to pardon the debt the Caribbean nation owes. Haiti reportedly owes Taiwan US$91 million.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said international lenders should expunge the debt so as not to encumber Haiti in its reconstruction effort.
Wang said they estimated the reconstruction project Ma proposed would cost US$10 million for the first year, including the US$5 million cash donation Taiwan has pledged.
Ma has said the relocation and reconstruction project may take five to 10 years or even longer, Wang said, adding that it was a long process and the administration would implement the projects as planned or adjust them according to the needs of the Haitian people.
“This is a pilot project,” Wang said. “We hope our efforts will encourage more countries to follow suit.”
Wang said Fernandez invited Ma to attend a world leaders’ meeting he has called for April 14 to discuss how to assist Haiti in its reconstruction projects, at which Ma said a representative from Taiwan would be present, but did not commit himself to attend.
Wang said the reconstruction project Ma had proposed would consist of four parts.
The first focus would be public hygiene and medical assistance, Wang said. Taiwan would send medical personnel to help Haiti prevent the spread of diseases. It would also dispatch medical teams to set up checkup points to provide medical services.
The second focus would be tents and prefabricated housing, he said. As the rescue operation draws to an end, Wang said relocation and reconstruction projects would then begin.
Ma said he hoped the Haitian government would find a suitable area with water and electricity to set up tents for refugees before moving them into prefabricated housing units.
Although the number of tents and prefabricated housing units Taiwan will send was unknown at the moment, Wang said Ma proposed that Taiwan fund the establishment of the settlement and name it “Village of Hope.”
Wang said that initially the administration hoped to provide 200 units for 1,000 people, but did not rule out increasing the number to 1,000 units for 5,000 people.
The third focus would be vocational training and employment assistance services for people staying in the village, including farming and factory skills, Wang said.
The Ma administration could ask for help from local agricultural missions or send experts to help them grow rice and chicken, Wang said. If factories are to be set up on the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti and the Dominican Republic share, Wang said the Ma administration hoped they would be built in Haiti, and if they are built in the Dominican Republic, Ma hopes a certain percentage of Haitian workers will be hired.
RSS