ARTICLE - QUEBEC TO FUND HAITI RELIEF

QUE. MUNICIPALITIES TO FUND HAITI RELIEF
(CBC) -

Montreal to focus on capital Port-au-Prince

International Development Minister Beverly Oda, second from left, and Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay, third from left, join other representatives during Tuesday's announcement at Montreal City Hall. (CBC)A coalition of municipal organizations has signed a deal to help five Haitian municipalities over the next two years.

The Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ), along with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the City of Montreal announced the commitment with the Canadian International Development Agency Tuesday.

The municipal groups will invest $7.2 million over two years and offer expertise to provide clean water, maintain roads and bridges, and rebuild public buildings in five "counterpart" Haitian towns.

The City of Montreal will focus on the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, while the UMQ will focus on the communities of Gressier, Léogâne, Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve.

"Who can better understand what's involved in the reconstruction of one city than another city?"

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay said during Tuesday's announcement at Montreal City Hall.

In the year since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many of the survivors continue to live in camps and surrounded by rubble.

International Development Minister Beverly Oda, who announced $93 million worth of initiatives toward Haitian relief at the ceremony on Tuesday, said disputes over land ownership and problems getting supplies into the country have posed major challenges for the relief effort.

Oda said it's important Haitians have a hand in the process.

"The thing that we also want to make sure is that's we are using the Haitians to rebuild themselves," the minister said.