Donors meet in Washington to plan Keith relief
It was a lesson in how to respond to disaster efficiently. Having approved a twenty million U.S. dollar emergency relief package in record time, the Interamerican Development Bank went one step further to organise a meeting of potential long term donors to help Belize recover from Hurricane Keith. That meeting was held today at IDB headquarters in Washington and News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams was there.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting from Washington, D.C.
?The Friends of Belize meeting, designed to offer support for Belize?s recovery from Hurricane Keith, ended about 3:30 p.m. local time today in Washington, D.C. with Belize?s Minister of Budget Planning Ralph Fonseca, getting the golden handshake from donor representatives. According to Fonseca, all members of the international community agreed to cooperate with financial and technical assistance, and that the type of assistance must be known by January 2001. They have also agreed, given Belize?s financial situation, that special reconstruction lines be included in the budget for three years, to aid Belize?s recovery. Delegates from more than twenty bilateral and multilateral agencies took part in the meeting held to inform donor about the Caribbean nation?s effort to recuperate from the damage wreaked by the hurricane, which hit its territory early in October. The disaster directly affected one quarter of the Belizean population and caused nearly two hundred, eighty million U.S. dollars in damages and economic losses, that?s according to an assessment by the United Nation?s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLA.?
?IDB?s President Enrique Iglesias, welcomed the participants and praised the progress achieved by the Government and people of Belize in recovering from the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Hattie destroyed Belize City in 1961. As they considered the rehabilitation programme, Iglesias urged them to think strategically about the future of Belize. He said and we quote ?It is not only to repair the damage and get the economy back on its feet, but also to launch a longer term effort to rebuild the country?s productive capacity, strengthen its institutions and establish a framework for sustained, economic and social improvement. Just as Hurricane Hattie led to the establishment of Belmopan as the new capital of the country, so could Hurricane Keith usher in a new era of vibrant economic and social transformation.?
?In his opening statement, Belize?s Minister of Budget Planning Ralph Fonseca expressed appreciation for the international community?s support for the efforts of the Belizean people to rebuild their country as an unparalleled act of international solidarity. Reporting live from the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington, D.C., Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.?
We’ll have a more detailed report on the results of the meeting on tomorrow’s newscast.
