— With international aid still slow to reach many survivors, Haitian
government officials began distributing food directly to people in the
capital on Tuesday.
Prime Minister
on Sunday, he ordered the purchase of dry foods such as rice, pasta and
beans to help feed the estimated 2 million people in need of
nourishment after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck
“We could not wait anymore that the international
community organize by their standards,” he said, noting that aid has
been slow to go out because the 20-plus international groups
distributing food need security escorts.
Government food distributions started in Cite Soleil, with security provided by the Haitian national police.
Those delivering the food wore shirts bearing a
Haitian insignia and the words “gouvenman’m ave’m” (Your government is
with you).
More distributions are planned Wednesday in the
Carrefour neighborhood, and farther west of the capital, in hard-hit
Leogane, Bellerive said.
delivered meals to about 400,000 people — far below the organization’s
estimate of 2 million people in need.
WFP officials have cited security concerns,
particularly the tumultuous crowds at distribution sites, for the slow
pace of food distribution.
Bellerive said he went to
Among the most pressing problems is the nearly 1 million people made homeless by the earthquake.
At Mais Gate, a shantytown for the homeless near the
Another fashioned its tent from a 5-foot-by-5-foot cloth adorned with an image of Jesus.
Haitian and relief officials are asking the world to
send tents, tents and more tents before a mini-rain season starts next
month.
Even President
— to serve as an office. He issued an urgent international appeal
Monday for 200,000 tents, each of which could hold a family of eight.
Though rescue efforts are winding down two weeks
after the quake, U.S. troops reported rescuing a 31-year-old Haitian
man from a collapsed building Tuesday afternoon.
The man, found two blocks from the
de Miracle, had been buried under rubble for 12 days, and suffered a
broken leg and severe dehydration. He was taken to a U.S. medical team
for treatment.
Through Tuesday, 135 people had been rescued from collapsed buildings.
Meanwhile,
said Tuesday they were close to deciding on sites outside the capital
to house since-recaptured prisoners who escaped in the earthquake.
About 5,100 prisoners escaped, 36 of whom were caught in
In
and more were “in the pipeline, perhaps a couple hundred more.” Haitian
government officials must issue a permit for each orphan to leave their
homeland.
About 460 Haitian citizens were also granted humanitarian parole “for medical and other reasons” to come to
confirmed that 59 Americans died in the quake: an embassy official,
three U.S. government workers’ family members and 55 private citizens.
As hopes of finding survivors fade, the State, Defense and
departments have begun working on a plan to bring back the remains of
American citizens in the absence of functioning mortuaries or
commercial flights,
—
(c) 2010, The Miami Herald.
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