Ronald Baudin, Haiti's Minister of Economy and Finance, said this week the importance of respecting private property, while the victims of the earthquake occupying makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince are threatened expulsion.

Recall that the government had announced in August a plan to rebuild the commercial center of the capital, with space for private companies, government buildings and thousands of homes. Following these statements, the government had declared of public utility [Decree of 2 September 2010] an area which must be freed of debris and in which interventions can not be done without government permission, which had not without cause discontent in some sectors.

"If we do everything we can to improve the living conditions of the population, especially those living in tents, we also need to promote respect for private property" stated Minister who is also President of the Committee of facilitation for the rebuilding of the Port-au-Prince Center.

For the minister, "the property is not an obstacle to the fight against the homeless people because the government is committed to provide land whenever there is a serious project to build housing." One believes to dream, why the Minister has so much trouble to provide land for tens of thousands of transitional structures pending due to lack of space for construction?

Michel Forst, the independent expert of the United Nations on the human rights in Haiti, before his departure of Haiti had risen cons are threatened expulsions and reiterated its call on the government for a moratorium on the deportation of IDPs living in makeshift camps located on private land "have cannot make the decision to expel these people without a strategy of relocalization implemented by the government".

Fysh Adam, head of Shelter group, which coordinates the exchange between UN agencies, government organizations and NGOs, has complained, the absence of a formal national strategy "to rehouse homeless stating that it is planned to build 136.514 transitional t-shelter by the summer of 2011, and only 13.073 have been built, because of delays at customs and especially the lack of physical and legal access to land "It is difficult to find owners who have a title [...] it is difficult to make plans to relocate the displaced persons" In addition, the leader of Shelter group said that "most victims prefer to remain in the camps, because they do not have to pay rent."

See also:

https://www.haitilibre.com/article-1218-haiti-humanitaire-abris-transitoires-rapport-au-14-09-2010.html (in french)

PI/ HaitiLibre