Algeria agrees $1.8bn quake fund

By Mohamed Arezki Himeur
BBC, Algiers

Thousands are still homeless

The Algerian Government has approved a $1.8bn package to rebuild the areas hit by last week's earthquake.

The money will be spent on reconstructing housing and infrastructure destroyed by the tremors which struck the regions of Algiers and Boumerdes on 21 May.

The two-year programme will initially focus on building 20,000 new homes.

The earthquake has left 2,261 dead and more than 10,000 injured, according to provisional figures.

Thousands are still missing and tens of thousands of families have suffered a loss of some kind. The tremor led to the collapse or the partial destruction of hundreds of buildings, villas and houses.

Villages 'lost'

The industrial regions of Rouira and Reghaia where the big factories and economic businesses are situated, were severely affected by the quake.

Hundreds of factories and businesses were totally or at least partially destroyed. Some villages have almost been erased from the map.

The tremor also left a trail of destruction in the towns and villages of Tizi ouzou, Bouira, Blida, Medea and Tipaza.

About 70,000 people are seeking refuge in 170 camps which are equipped with electricity, drinking water, showers and toilets, as well as medical assistance and security.

Life has been completely disrupted

Thousands of other people are living wherever they can find shelter. They will be taken progressively into makeshift camps.

Officials have said newly-built houses, or houses being built, were the most affected by the earthquake.

Already, 3,500 houses have been registered as destroyed. The government has promised to re-house all those affected.

First aid and humanitarian work has continued despite the huge scale of the disaster.

At least 47,000 men, 20,000 of them soldiers and gendarmes and 7,000 of them firemen, helped by thousands of volunteers have taken part in the rescue and relief operation.