Haiti still in grip of quake relief logjam
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians still in urgent need of food, water and medicine, six days after earthquake
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Monday, 18, Jan 2010 04:00
By Matthew Champion.
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are still in urgent need of food, water and medicine, six days after last week's devastating earthquake.
Despite an unprecedented international aid effort for what the United Nations has described as the worst disaster it has ever dealt with, officials and aid workers are struggling to get supplies through to survivors.
Port-au-Prince airport, recently taken over temporarily by the US, is operating at full capacity 24 hours a day, while the capital's port is still inaccessible due to debris.
Death-toll estimates from Tuesday's quake range from 50,000 to 200,000, but hundreds of thousands remain homeless and three million are in urgent need of supplies.
Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, was already suffering from civil unrest and food shortages following a series of hurricanes last year.
But relief efforts have been stung from day one due to Haitian and UN infrastructure in the country being virtually wiped out by the 7.0 magnitude quake.
Thousands of people are leaving Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area in search of food and shelter, while looting and violence has broken out in the capital itself.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who flew into Haiti yesterday, has insisted supplies would reach survivors imminently.
"I appeal to the Haitian people to be more patient," he said.
"We need to make sure our help is getting to people who need it as fast as possible."
Meanwhile, a 130km emergency humanitarian road corridor is being set up between Haiti and the town of Barahona in neighbouring Dominican Republican to take some pressure off bottlenecks in Haiti.
Problems facing aid agencies in the Caribbean nation were flagged up by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which said an aircraft carrying a mobile hospital was denied permission to land at Port-au-Prince and diverted to the Dominican Republic.
"Priority must be given immediately to planes carrying lifesaving equipment and medical personnel," the group said.
Disasters Emergency Committee chief executive Brendan Gormley, who revealed yesterday Britons had donated £15 million, added: "Every emergency is different, and this one is presenting extreme logistical difficulties because the earthquake caused so much damage to the airport, port and roads.
"Despite incredibly challenging circumstances, the aid provided through the DEC is already on the ground and our members will continue to both meet urgent needs and plan for longer-term reconstruction, thanks to the generosity of the British public."