Teeming tented communities will remain a reality in Haiti's present and future, the United Nations said Monday, as it assessed lessons learned six months after the earthquake that shattered the poorest country in the Caribbean according to dpa. "There will be tented camps for months to come, maybe years to come," said Nigel Fisher, UN humanitarian coordinator for Haiti. "This is the biggest natural disaster the world has seen in recent memory" in a country with a weak economy. At least 1.5 million Haitians are still living in temporary camps, the UN said. Work was now in the second phase of replacing tents worn out over the months and providing additional resources for the rains. A 7-magnitude earthquake ripped through Haiti at 4:53 pm on January 12. Over the 12 days that followed, the country was rocked by at least 52 powerful aftershocks. The exact number of deaths may never be known, but the Haitian government estimates that 222,750 people - or 2 per cent of the population - were killed and at least 300,572 injured. The total damage and loss caused is estimated at 7.8 billion dollars, or slightly more than Haiti's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009. The global response was swift, with thousands of humanitarian aid workers rushing into the country where the infrastructure had collapsed. The response was not only complex, but often incoherent and uncoordinated. The UN acknowledged as much in a report released Monday, examining how UN agencies reacted to the disaster, as well as the role of the Haitian government and population and foreign militaries. "The influx of thousands of humanitarian actors, many of whom, while well-meaning, were not necessarily professional and well- informed in their approach, posed a challenge to the coordination dynamics of the response," the report said. The aid agencies again came in for criticism as foreign militaries were compelled to step in to lead humanitarian tasks as there was a lack of "sufficient strategic vision," the report said. Despite the challenges, Fisher said there was no major epidemic - of cholera or measles - in the overcrowded camps. "Over 11,000 latrines were built in the camps - the population didn't have these services before the earthquake." He also praised the "relative calm" in the camps, largely due to the local camp committees, Haitian police and UN. "Things could have been much worse. Haiti has a reputation for violence. I don't think you've seen it here. I want to emphasize that."
