Rebuilding Haiti could cost $14 billion

Rebuilding Haiti could cost $14 billion, making last month's quake the most destructive natural disaster in modern history, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said yesterday.

The stark assessment came after a 7.0-magnitude-quake levelled parts of the Caribbean nation of nine million, already the poorest in the Americas before the disaster. The quake killed at least 217,000 people and left the capital, Port-au-Prince largely in ruins.

The preliminary report by the IDB estimated the damage at between $8 billion and $14 billion. Factoring in Haiti's population and economic output, the upper estimate would make it the most destructive natural disaster in modern history, the bank said.

"Indeed, in this respect the Haiti earthquake was vastly more destructive than the Indonesian tsunami of 2004 and the cyclone that hit Myanmar in 2008," an IDB statement said.

"It caused five times more deaths per million inhabitants than the second-ranking natural killer, the 1972 earthquake in Nicaragua."

The $14 billion figure is the Washington-based bank's upper estimate for the cost of reconstructing homes, schools, streets and other infrastructure in Haiti following the January 12 quake.

"A detailed accounting of the cost of reconstruction will emerge in coming months as a full Post Disaster Needs Assessment is completed," the report said. "But the new IBD study indicates the cost is likely to be larger than anticipated."

Prospects for funding the reconstruction may appear daunting, according to the development bank.

"Raising such a figure will require many donors, bilateral, multilateral and private. Hence excellent coordination of funding and of execution will be the key to ensuring the efficient use of funds," the report said.

"Unfortunately past experience suggests that despite higher aid inflows after disasters, that the growth impact of major disasters remains highly persistent."

The IBD said the international community would also need to consider how best to support private activities to kick-start sustainable growth once the main reconstruction activities was finished.

After it lost most government buildings, Canada will set up a temporary headquarters for the beleaguered Haitian government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on a visit to quake-devastated Port-au-Prince on Monday.

"The establishment of a temporary government administrative base is an important step towards early recovery and reconstruction efforts," Harper said after meeting with Mr President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.