Chile’s reconstruction will take “three to four years” as the country recovers from the earthquake that killed some 800 people, its president has said.“There are rural areas where everything has tumbled to the ground… infrastructure has been destroyed,” Michelle Bachelet told Chilean radio.
It would take international aid and most of the next government’s mandate to rebuild, Ms Bachelet added.
President-elect Sebastian Pinera is set to take over from her next week.
“We will not be the government of the earthquake, but the government of reconstruction”
Sebastian Pinera, president-elect
The cost of the damage, which Ms Bachelet described as “enormous”, has so far been estimated at between $15bn and $30bn.
“Chile has the resources for a number of actions, but we will have to ask for credit from the World Bank and other entities,” Ms Bachelet said.
Mr Pinera said his government would be one of reconstruction, with a plan of four clear stages - “to cope with the emergency needs of citizens, find people who are still missing, provide prompt and timely assistance to the sick and wounded, and restore law and order so that people can return to peace”.
Tremors
On Wednesday, strong aftershocks of magnitude 5.5 and higher were felt in several cities, including Santiago, and prompted tsunami warnings, which were later lifted.
An 18-hour nightly curfew remains in place in Concepcion, Chile’s second largest city, and six other towns badly affected by the earthquake.
Officials say 799 people are confirmed to have died, but there are reports of many people still missing in the coastal town of Constitucion.
About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.
The epicentre of the quake was 115km north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago.
About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged.
Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.