Chile's quake recovery plan stresses schools, housing

Santiago, Mar 19 (EFE).- The Chilean government announced Friday its first package of measures for the nation's reconstruction following the Feb. 27 earthquake, which gives priority to the reparation of damaged schools and the protection of families that lost their homes.

The proposals, estimated to cost around $110 million, also contemplate the reactivation of the fishing industry in coastal towns that were devastated by the tsunami following the magnitude-8.8 quake.

In its first official bulletin on the temblor since taking office March 11, President Sebastian Piñera's administration said Friday that the disaster left 452 dead, 96 missing, 800,000 injured or displaced and damage estimated at $30 billion, equal to 17 percent of Chile's gross domestic product.

The recovery plan was presented by the ministers of education, Rodrigo Hinzpeter; of education, Joaquin Lavin; of planning, Felipe Kast, and of the economy, Juan Andres Fontaine, along with government spokesperson Ena Von Baer, who has Cabinet rank.

Lavin said that one of the government's priorities is restarting the school year, which got under way in much of Chile this week, but in the regions hardest hit by the temblor was further postponed because the schools were largely left in ruins.

Piñera said Thursday that 2,750 schools are unusable, affecting nearly 1 million students.

At Friday's briefing, Lavin announced the creation of a $19 million fund for repairing the quake-ravaged schools.

"The purpose of these resources is to permit minor reparations that will allow classes to be started before April 26 and which can also be used to adapt social infrastructure for use as temporary schools," he said.

Also approved was a monthly stipend of $57 for up to 20,000 college students in the hardest-hit regions of 0'Higgins, Maule and Bio Bio to enable them to remain in school.

Planning Minister Kast announced his package of measures, which includes financing for the construction of 20,000 wooden cabins, which will be added to the 20,000 to be built with funds from the March 5-6 telethon to raise money for quake relief.

To get that project moving, the government signed a deal with the charity Un Techo para Chile (A Roof for Chile), which committed itself to delivering the cabins "before June 11, the day the soccer World Cup starts," Kast said.

In addition, 25,000 tents will be delivered next week to families living in extremely vulnerable conditions at the approach of the rainy season.

"These measures are complement, not a substitute, for the definitive solutions the Housing Ministry is working on," Kast said, adding that the cost of the measures will be around $75 million.

Piñera said Thursday that "more than 200,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged" by the earthquake.

Another of the government's projects will be the reactivation of the country's productive sectors, particularly the fisheries, the chief means of sustenance in coastal areas devastated by the tsunami.

Fontaine, the economy minister, announced a program called "Volvamos a la Mar" (Let's Get Back to the Sea), which includes measures for reactivating small-scale fishing and creating jobs for fishermen while their industry is getting back to normal.

The administration will co-finance fishing-boat reparation or the acquisition of new boats with a maximum contribution of almost $4,000 for each fisherman entered in the fishing registers and credited with working at that pursuit during the year 2009.

Fishermen who are unable to return to fishing will nonetheless be included in the special program to create 60,000 new jobs.

The "Chile Helps Chile" telethon brought in more than $87 million, the press said Friday.

Nearly 56 percent of the total came from businesses.

The final sum exceeded by more than 50 percent the amount announced at the end of the 27-hour program hosted by popular television personality Mario "Don Francisco" Kreutzberger.

The amount also tripled the organizers' original goal, which they set at just under $30 million.