PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed frustration Saturday over the slow pace of Haiti’s earthquake recovery but said the country will escape its difficulties if it can become self-sufficient.
Clinton is co-chairman of the international commission overseeing $5.3 billion in promised reconstruction aid. In a phone interview before the six-month anniversary of the quake, he said international donors have given only 10 percent of the aid they promised.
He also noted the “enormous difficulty” plaguing rubble removal and construction of housing.
“In the next couple of months, we will start working through that at a more rapid pace and getting some of these other things going,” Clinton said. “They have enormous potential.”
So far money has been provided by Brazil, Norway and Australia. The United States has paid into the donor fund as well, but only $30 million of the $1.15 billion it promised. Legislation approving the rest is tied up in Congress.
The Associated Press
