Jean Especa, the sole representative of the Haitian government in Africa has called on the continent to share Haiti's burden after the devastating earthquake. The Haitian Ambassador confirmed that although the government has officially called off all search and rescue activities, rescuers are on the ground after the devastating earthquake that hit the country on January 12. Ambassador Especa made this revelation in an exclusive interview with Myjoyonline.com and explained that his government had called off rescue efforts because the government has very little hope of finding survivors at this point. He said the 7.2-rated "earthquake that happened in Haiti on that day", quoting experts, "is one of the worst 10th devastating earthquakes of all time.” He admitted that Haiti did not have the capacity and resources to solve the debilitating effects of the earthquake. “This catastrophe has a major proportion and we do not expect to solve these entire problems in the short term,” he emphasised. He disclosed that more than 300,000 people are believed to be wounded with more than 200,000 people believed to have lost their lives. Jean Especa also revealed that the current operations in Haiti have been divided into two phases; Relief efforts comprising the relocation of the homeless, providing medical care to the sick and providing food and clothing. The second phase, he said, will be Reconstruction, which per the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank projections come to about 10 billion dollars. “There is a will on the part of Africa to share this burden with Haiti and the international community because there are many pledges on the part of the Western World and I believe that the pledges we have now, nearly cover the 10 billion dollars but it is a pride for Haiti that someday we will say that, this is what Africa did because we are from Africa,” he said. As the sole representative of Haiti in Africa, Jean said he has opened two bank accounts at Ecobank and African Development Bank to collect donations from Africa. He hopes to raise CFA 3 billion, approximately 6 Million dollars. “This is my ambition and from the feedback I have had so far, I think this ambition is not too high, we can achieve it, Africa can achieve it.” Reacting to an offer made by the Senegalese president, Abdullaye Wad that he has made land available for Haitians who will like to return back to Africa, the Haitian Ambassador said President Wad is a man of goodwill and nobody could refuse such an offer. “He himself (President Wad) said that he hasn’t talked to the president of Haiti yet and he still has to talk to the Haitian president about it. The Haitian president is somebody before reacting; he weighs the question at every angle. So I, as the Haitian government representative, I cannot anticipate an answer before the president reacts.” He disagreed to calls that Haitians should totally relocate back to their roots; Africa, considering the fact that the earthquake rate is relatively low on the continent. The Haitian ambassador was the special guest of honour at a recently held solidarity concert at the Alliance Francaise organised by the Friends of Haiti to raise funds for Haiti. He was very thankful to the organisers and Ghanaians at large for the kind gesture for organising the concert for such a worthy cause. Story by Aglanu Dela Ernest/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana