Above: a girl walks across a former basketball court, now a camp for displaced persons in Haiti, earlier this year (UN Photo/Logan Abassi)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The government of Canada has committed to resettling 5,000 families from the Champ de Mars park in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince.

“Canada is proud to be a part of the international efforts to help Haiti as it recovers from the earthquake over the past two years,” said Beverley Oda, Minister of International Cooperation. “We are fulfilling our commitment to the Haitian people so they can move forward to building their communities and their country.”

Canada is providing $19.9 million over two years to finance the resettlement of Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake.

The government said the project would also help reestablish 500 informal, mostly women-owned businesses, train 50 entrepreneurs and create 2,000 local construction jobs in the neighbourhoods where the residents would resettle.

As part of the initiative, 240 Haitians will receive certified construction training.

The Champ de Mars, a major public park in the capital, is currently home to at least 20,000 Haitians.

Over the last six years, Canada said it had disbursed what is now more than $1 billion in Haiti to promote long-term development and meet humanitarian and reconstruction needs.