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Top OAS official paints dire picture of Haiti |
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Sunday, 21 September 2008 |
PORT AU PRINCE - Desperation appears to be creeping upon the people of Haiti, who have suffered massive displacement as a result of several storms unleashing fury on their country in recent weeks.
"It is quite true that in some communities the people of Haiti - those living there - have not received any water or food since Monday," Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States Ambassador Albert Ramdin told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) after an aerial tour of some of the hardest-hit areas on Friday.
"And that is such a grave situation but it has the full attention of the prime minister; the problem is that those communities are simply not reachable."
In the past month alone, Haiti has been battered by four storms - hurricanes Ike and Gustav and tropical storms Hanna and Fay - which have claimed more than 500 lives and displaced more than 800,000 people. Several communities also remain under water.
"What is even worse is that among those who died in the aftermath of the hurricanes, the floods and so on, many children were among them; that is a sad situation," Ambassador Ramdin said.
International aid in the form of food, water and medicines has been pouring into the French-speaking Caribbean country but Ramdin said more help is needed.
"There is clear consensus on what is required at this point and basically it’s about water supply, food supply, medication, and re-establishing communication and rebuilding infrastructure. With critical elements we’ll be able to reach certain areas.
"The international community has provided helicopters to start in a couple of days with the distribution of food, medication and water and so on but that is not enough."
He said the OAS has been able to provide some financial contribution to the government of Haiti through the Pan-American Development Foundation. The organization has also provided food supplies as well as tents and shelter packages that will continue in the coming days, Ramdin added.
There are now fears that starvation and disease will hit hard with aid groups unable to get food and water to those who need them most. President René Préval has described the situation as catastrophic and has strongly appealed for international assistance.
With those fears Ramdin said the OAS was already looking ahead.
"We are even considering…which will be required in the second phase of the recovery, the setting up of a field hospital as the expectation from the Pan-American Health Organization is that we will have to deal with issue of diarrhea, of water contamination and what it goes with, including malaria.
"So we are preparing for that stage by trying to get a field hospital established in the southern part of the country," he said.
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