Preval forecasts grim 2009 for Haitians

GONAIVES, Haiti (AFP): President Rene Preval told Haitians to avoid rosy expectations for 2009 following the hardships of 2008, as he celebrated the 205th anniversary of the country's independence from France.

"We can't forget how 2008 shook Haiti," Preval told government officials and the public at a square commemorating the heroes of Haiti's independence, in Gonaives, 95 miles north of Port-Au-Prince.

Haiti President Rene Preval. AFP PHOTO
Last year, the impoverished nation was hit by April food riots that killed six people, followed by four devastating hurricanes in August and September that killed 793 people and caused half a billion dollars in damages. A school collapse in November killed 91.

"Due to the global economic crisis, Haiti will suffer in 2009," Preval said.

But he offered several proposals "to change the situation."

"First, 2009 will be the year of big road building in Haiti; and second, we must continue to build peace, because peace is the way to end foreign troop presence in Haiti. It is also the path to investment."

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has been under the oversight of a 7,000-strong Brazilian-led UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) since 2004 due to recurring political and social turmoil.

Preval also said he would beef up government assistance and implement a program of public works for recovery in Gonaives, the city hardest-hit by the four storms in 2008.

Among the hundreds who heard Preval's speech in the city square were a group of teachers and students holding up billboards demanding government assistance to raise the city's standard of living.

Reads : 256