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Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told an aid conference in Montreal that his country needs help with a “colossal” reconstruction from the Jan. 12 earthquake that left the nation in shambles.

“Haiti will need massive support in the medium and long term from its partners in the international community,” Bellerive said today at the conference attended by 20 governments and multi-lateral organizations. “The challenge will require that we do more, that we do better and certainly that we do differently.”

Aid groups called on those attending the meeting to cancel the Caribbean nation’s $890 million foreign debt. The meeting, to discuss long-term reconstruction and plan a full donor conference in March, is being hosted by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. The U.S. is represented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the temblor, which killed more than 150,000 people and destroyed a third of the buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The country’s infrastructure, including the water system, has collapsed and the government is unable to deliver services. Relief groups and foreign military forces are trying to reach the estimated 3 million of Haiti’s 9 million people affected by the quake.

‘Path to Development’

The donor nations’ plans must aim to “bring the country back on the path to development,” Bellerive said in a speech to the group. “Going back to the status quo ante is not an option.”

Reconstruction will have to include moving some people out of shantytowns that have overrun the capital, and fostering economic development outside Port-au-Prince, he said.

“The Haitian government is at work in precarious conditions, but it is able to provide the leadership the Haitian people expect of it in the colossal challenges on the way to development,” Bellerive said.

Most government offices and computer systems were destroyed the quake.

The U.S. has taken control of aid deliveries through Haiti’s sole international airport, and the United Nations has taken responsibility for the country’s security

Cannon said the delegates at the conference support the Haitian government’s effort to join in the reconstruction planning. Today’s meeting will help set out a “coherent” and “consistent” approach for supporting Haiti in advance of a major conference to be held in coming months.

‘Ready to Help’

“Your role is key, and your voice is clear guaranteed payday loans. We stand ready to help,” Cannon said.

Haiti’s foreign debt must be cancelled immediately, “accompanied by urgent action to support farmers and prevent a man-made food crisis exacerbating the hardship,” Oxfam Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs said in an e-mailed statement.

Cancelling debt is “indispensable to help the government of Haiti marshal the most resources possible” to rebuild the country, said Eric Faustin, president of Regroupement des Organismes Canado-Haitiens pour le Developpement, a Montreal- based non-profit aid group that focuses on Haiti.

Rescuers today wound down operations seeking survivors among the wreckage, and the UN reported that security in Port- au-Prince “remains calm but fragile, with isolated instances of looting.”

More than 150,000 bodies have been buried and 200,000 residents of Port-au-Prince have left the city, the New York Times reported Jan. 23, citing Marie-Laurence Jocelynn Lassegue, Haiti’s culture and communications minister.

Aid Groups

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes and UN development head Helen Clark are attending the Montreal meeting, along with representatives from the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank. Other participating nations include Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, France and Spain.

Japan will pledge $70 million in aid at Montreal, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters today in Tokyo. The nation, which has the world’s second-biggest economy, had initially pledged $5 million, compared with the U.S. pledge of $100 million and $10 million promised by South Korea.

Japan also intends to send about 300 members of its Self- Defense Force to Haiti, serving with the UN peace-keeping troops, Hirano said.

Norway today doubled its humanitarian aid to Haiti to 200 million krone ($34 million).

Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia said they will boycott the meeting to protest the U.S. military’s presence in the Caribbean, according to the German news service Deutsche Presse Agentur.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro wrote in the official Cuban newspaper Granma that U.S. troops have “occupied” Haiti. The U.S. bolstered its presence in the country and offshore to 11,000 soldiers and sailors last week to help provide humanitarian assistance and security.

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