Haitian leaders working to finish post-earthquake reconstruction plan

Haiti leaders rush to finish post-quake proposal

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s government and business community are finalizing details of a reconstruction plan that economists say could cost nearly $14 billion.

Haitian Chamber of Commerce President Reginald Boulos says he told the prime minister and international financiers at a meeting Monday that the private sector’s earthquake losses alone totaled more than $2 billion.

Inter-American Development Bank economist Ericq Pierre says no definitive total was agreed on Monday. The bank estimates Haiti’s total damage from the Jan. 12 quake between $8.1 billion and $13.9 billion.

The plan will be refined later this week at a meeting in the Dominican Republic. That meeting is to prepare for a March 31 aid conference at the United Nations.