Haitian President Rene Preval defended his government’s response to the Jan. 12 earthquake against criticisms that the government is not adequately addressing the needs of earthquake survivors, The Washington Post reports.
Various international groups have noted that thousands of earthquake survivors still need to be relocated, while a recent Oxfam survey suggested that Haitians are concerned over the lack of state leadership in the earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts.
Preval, speaking from Port-au-Prince, said that even countries such as China and Italy struggled to recover from earthquakes with less impact as the one his country experienced.
Regarding the Oxfam survey, Preval said few other countries could have responded to a similar tragedy on their own. The reconstruction of Haiti will be a joint a effort of the local government, international players and Haitians living abroad, he added.
