Storm rebuilding 'must address inequalities'

US President George W Bush said yesterday the Gulf Coast must be rebuilt with an eye toward wiping out the poverty and racial injustice plain to all in the suffering of the black and the poor in Hurricane Katrina's wake.

"As we clear away the debris of a hurricane, let us also clear away the legacy of inequality," Bush said during a national prayer service with other political leaders and religious figures from the affected region at the National Cathedral.

Also yesterday, White House officials said that taxpayers will pay the bill for the massive reconstruction program for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast and that the huge expense will worsen the nation's budget deficit.