Friday, January 15, 2010

Haiti quake aid effort hampered by blockages



Bottlenecks and infrastructure damage have been holding up aid efforts in Haiti, where Tuesday's earthquake has left as many as 45,000-50,000 dead.

There is little sign of humanitarian supplies beyond the Port-au-Prince airport, and correspondents say there is increasing anger among survivors.

Many are spending another day without food and shelter in the ruined capital.

A US aircraft carrier has arrived off the coast of Haiti to help co-ordinate the movement of supplies.

President Barack Obama pledged a huge aid effort, but warned it would take time for help to reach people.

Insecurity

On the ground, correspondents say there is little immediate sign of a co-ordinated relief effort.

The small airport is filled to capacity and US air traffic controllers have taken charge of air traffic control to help manage the influx of planes.

However because of fuel shortages, some aircraft are clogging up the tarmac. Meanwhile the port is too damaged to use and roads are blocked by debris.

The BBC's Andy Gallacher in Port-au-Prince says survivors are dying in huge numbers, and clean water, food and medical supplies are desperately needed.

"We hear on the radio that rescue teams are coming from the outside, but nothing is coming," said one man, Jean-Baptiste Lafontin Wilfried.

David Wimhurst, a spokesman for the Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, said: "Unfortunately, they're slowly getting more angry and impatient."

The UN headquarters has collapsed and correspondents say there is little official presence in Port-au-Prince despite incidents of looting.

"Our biggest problem is insecurity," Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, the rescue commander from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, told AFP news agency on Friday.

"Yesterday they tried to hijack some of our trucks. Today we were barely able to work in some places because of that."

The UN World Food Programme said its warehouses in Port-au-Prince been looted, though it was unclear how much of its stockpile remained.

A WFP spokeswoman in Geneva, Emilia Casella, said on Friday that the agency was preparing to send enough meals to feed 2 million people for a month.

Asked about delays, she said extensive damage to Haiti's infrastructure meant that moving tonnes of aid represented a huge challenge.

Race against time

Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for Time magazine, told the BBC he had seen a roadblock formed with bodies of quake victims on a main road, south of the capital.

He said he believed this was an "act of anger" on the part of people who are not getting help.

About 45,000-50,000 people have died since Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake and 300,000 have been made homeless, the UN estimates.

In total, 3.5m have been affected, the UN says.

President Obama said some US rescuers were already on the ground in Haiti and more were on their way.

Speaking on Thursday, he promised the country "every element of our national capacity, our diplomacy, and development assistance".

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and the USS Bataan, carrying a marine expeditionary unit, are on their way to Haiti.

On Friday, the UN said a total of about $270m (£165m) in international aid had been pledged so far.

It will launch an emergency appeal for $550m later on Friday, UN spokeswoman spokeswoman Corinne Momal-Vanian said.

Aid groups say it is a race against time to find trapped survivors.

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