The amount of rubble that needs clearing in Haiti could generate as much as USD1 billion in business for many companies specializing in debris clearing.
“I have heard the president say that based on what the engineers tell him, it will take 1,000 dump trucks working for 1,000 days to clear away the debris, and I am not sure even the experts know how big is the pile,” Leslie Voltaire, an architect and diplomat leading the initiative to plan Haiti’s rebuilding, told The Washington Post.
According to United Nations rapid assessment teams, the Jan. 12 earthquake has caused around 30 million to 78 million cubic yards of broken blocks, twisted metal and pulverized concrete. The newspaper estimated it would require as many as 8 million trips to finish the cleanup in Port-au-Prince, with a Mack truck hauling nine cubic yards of concrete debris.
U.S. contractors are now seeking local construction firms to find workers and secure heavy equipment as well as link with Haitian business leaders with connections to the government and international donor consortia that will underwrite the rubble-clearing efforts. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also discussed the possibility of Brazilian companies providing rubble removal services in a recent meeting with Haitian President René Préval.