mr president one of the poorest countries in the world ravaged in just fifteen seconds the victim of bad government the victim of dictatorship and corruption
fifty thousand people dead thousands still missing and three million homeless
the united states response has been commendable the united nations <unk> less so but i have to agree with everything that has been said
we are not being political in this mr cashman our response has been less than adequate
we have been left in the slipstream of the united states
the logistical difficulties will be overcome clean water medication food and shelter these will all happen in due course
but what haiti needs to emerge from this disaster is a fully functioning democracy with an economy that can sustain its people
its recovery must be measured over the years and not just in the weeks and the months after this crisis
as has been said time and time again it will disappear from the television sets
it will go from item one over the next two or three weeks to item three and then it will be gone
but that is where the real challenge is because in two thousand and eight haiti was hit by two devastating hurricanes
poverty and desolation were left in their wake
the world leaders at that stage promised eur six hundred million
only eur forty million was actually delivered
what we need is the rebirth the resurgence the re-emergence and the redevelopment of haiti
it must be led and it must be managed in a proper fashion but above all else it must set down a clear and deliverable strategy to make haiti the proud independent and democratic entity that it should be but which it is not and has not been up to now thus leading to the present catastrophe
