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Roundup: Ecuador's president urges post-quake economic revitalization, investigation into building collapse

Xinhua, May 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on Saturday called upon people to help revitalize the economy in the quake-hit regions and demanded an investigation into the collapsed buildings.

"The best way to celebrate May 1 is by showing solidarity and the best form of solidarity is reactivating the economy. See you there," Correa was quoted as saying by the government-run news agency Andes.

The president called on Ecuadorians to visit Manta's beautiful beaches, Jaramijo's fishing port and the city of Alfar in Montecristi, where the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 16 killed many people and damaged a lot of property.

Ecuador's government is currently working on a plan to rebuild the most affected areas with support and advice from international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), according to Andes.

During the president's weekly report, Correa asked the South American country's Attorney General to look into who was responsible for the badly built constructions that collapsed in the quake, which left at least 660 people dead.

The earthquake destroyed around 7,000 buildings, causing widespread destruction of homes, buildings, hotels and even shopping centers in the coastal provinces of Manabi, in the west, and Esmeraldas in the north.

About 281 schools have reported serious damage to their buildings.

In the seaside resort of Pedernales in Manabi alone, the epicenter of the quake, 80 percent of the affected buildings sustained structural damage.

Correa said that one of Ecuador's most serious problems is lack of professionalism in the construction sector.

"They don't use professionals or architects. They use master builders. This is very risky and even worse if it involves public buildings such as shopping centers and hotels," he said.

The quake "has been a hard lesson given to us by nature but we should learn from this" so as not to commit "serious omissions that could cause more deaths," the president added.

Currently, 22,421 people are being housed in shelters and 32 people are still missing.

Rebuilding in the earthquake-devastated areas will cost around 3 billion U.S. dollars and the government has a contingency credit line of 640 million dollars, Correa said. Endi