Nearly six months after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, Wyclef Jean is continuing to speak on his native land.
As previously reported the former Fugee’s organization Yele Haiti contributed over $1 million to the country’s relief efforts.
Now according to Clef, the relief efforts are far from over and he says the progress is going at the “speed of a turtle.”
Wyclef reports that at least 1.6 million people are still homeless and living in tents and the country’s unemployment rate is at 70 to 80 percent.
Wyclef shared the shocking news in a blog for CNN saying,
“It’s been almost six months since the January 12 earthquake that devastated my beloved Haiti. Speaking for myself — not for my organization Yéle Haiti — I will say it: Speed is of the essence. I feel that progress is being made at the speed of a turtle.
With the amount of money that has been raised to help our country, I was expecting to see construction projects. I was expecting to see thousands of heavy tractors and loaders lifting up rubble. I was expecting to see people relocated from tents and starting to get into temporary housing. And yet, during my last visit, just a few weeks ago, I saw very few, or none, of these…”
Clef also says he and his wife Claudinette spoke with Haiti’s special envoy to the United Nations and shared with him an idea to make temporary housing that would eventually turn into a city called “Exodus.”
“Then we showed him the most important project we’re working on: the temporary housing that we want to create that would become permanent homes. We’re proposing a city called Exodus. We could then start to relocate families who don’t have homes into this new place…the goal for Exodus is to eventually build 1,000 homes, which translates to housing for 5,000 people. We are working with the government on agreeing to a site in the area of Croix-des-Bouquets for building our first hundred units.”
Ultimately Clef wants the speed of Haiti’s progress to increase, with a renewed focus on jobs and education.
“We need to bring business back to Haiti, we need to focus on jobs — and, of course, education. As we reach the six-month mark, let’s make a renewed commitment to cooperate, collaborate, do whatever it takes to make sure the next six months are eventful in terms of real progress. Let’s do what we have to do to see things start to move more quickly. No more turtle speed; let’s try to pick up the pace of Haiti’s rebirth.”
Check out the rest of Wyclef’s CNN blog here.
