Zeenews Bureau
Port-au-Prince: Within days, the government will move 400,000 people made homeless by Haiti's epic earthquake from their squalid improvised camps throughout the shattered capital to new resettlement areas on the outskirts, a top Haitian official said on Thursday.
Authorities are worried about sanitation and disease outbreaks in makeshift settlements like the one on the city's central Champs de Mars plaza, said Fritz Longchamp, chief of staff to President Rene Preval.
"The Champ de Mars is no place for 1,000 or 10,000 people," Longchamp said. "They are going to be going to places where they will have at least some adequate facilities."
He said buses would start moving people within a week to 10 days, once new camps are ready.
The hundreds of thousands whose homes were destroyed in the January 12 quake had settled in more than 200 open spaces around the city, the lucky ones securing tents for their families, but most living under the tropical sun on blankets, on plastic sheets or under tarpaulins strung between tree limbs.
The announcement came as search-and-rescue teams packed their dogs and gear Thursday, with hopes almost gone of finding any more alive in the ruins. The focus shifted to keeping injured survivors alive, fending off epidemics and getting help to the hundreds of homeless still suffering.
Haiti govt 'on course to regain control'
Haiti's government is in the process of regaining control and organising aid efforts, President Rene Preval has said.
"It is difficult to work as before (the quake), but we're on course to regain control," Preval told reporters here.
"The aid is being organised and (the situation) will continue to improve," he pledged.
The presidential complex, the Parliament, the courthouse, many ministries and other government buildings were destroyed in the quake, Preval noted, saying all government documents were lost at that time.
But, from his temporary offices near the international airport, Preval assured Haitians -- over 100,000 of whom are thought to be dead and over half a million homeless – that the government was working to resume regular operations amid the ruins.
Haitian Justice Minister alive
Haitian Justice Minister Paul Denis survived the massive earthquake that shook his nation last week, the country's Ambassador in Germany said.
Denis had earlier been reported to be among those killed.
Ambassador Jean Robert Saget said the minister survived the quake in a hole and that he had been falsely informed of Denis' death.
Looting continues
A melee erupted at one food distribution point as people broke into the storehouse and fought each other over the bags.
As aftershocks still shook the city, aid workers streamed into Haiti with water, food, drugs, latrines, clothing, trucks, construction equipment, telephones and tons of other supplies. The international Red Cross called it the greatest deployment of emergency responders in its 91-year history.
But the built-in bottlenecks of this desperately poor, underdeveloped nation and the sheer scale of the catastrophe still left many of the hundreds of thousands of victims without help. The US military reported a waiting list of 1,400 international relief flights seeking to land on Port-au-Prince's single runway, where 120 to 140 flights were arriving daily.
"They don't see any food and water coming to them, and they are frustrated," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
Four ships managed to dock at the capital's earthquake-damaged port, holding out the promise of a new avenue for getting aid to the city. But the going was slow since only one truck at a time could manoeuvre on the crack-riven pier.
The picture was especially grim at emergency medical centres, where shortages of surgeons, nurses, their tools and supplies have backed up critical cases.
Almost USD 1 billion in foreign aid has been pledged to help Haiti recover from the quake, and the White House said the US share has climbed to about USD 170 million.
The UN World Food Program said it has delivered at least 1 million rations to about 200,000 people, with each ration providing the equivalent of a daily three meals. In the coming days, it plans to deliver five-day rations to 100,000 people a day, it said. The US military said it was resuming air drops of water and meals into zones secured by US troops.
More than 2,600 US soldiers, Marines and airmen were on the ground, and more than 10,000 sailors and others were offshore. The UN was adding 2,000 peacekeepers to the 7,000 already in Haiti, and 1,500 more police to the 2,100-member international force.
Aftershocks continue
Haiti was hit on Thursday by a 4.8 magnitude aftershock, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
The USGS said the aftershock hit at 1654 GMT and was centred 40 kilometres west-southwest of Port-au-Prince, with a depth of about 10 kilometres.
The aftershock followed a heavier 6.1-magnitude jolt early Wednesday.
Indian forces protect banks
Para-military CISF personnel have been guarding banks and other vital centres in Port-au-Prince to prevent looting besides providing security to Indians in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.
The Indian contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) did not suffer causalities after the 7.0 quake that hit the Caribbean nation on January 12, according to the United Nations.
There are presently 140 paramilitary personnel who are heavily armed, 11 unarmed police officers and one military staff official stationed in the capital.
UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told journalists here that the UN and the Haiti government were working on get business back on its feet, which would require protection of banks and fuel stations. The Haitian government will reportedly open the banks this week.
Brazil mourns
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has led an emotional ceremony with full military honours for 18 Brazilian peacekeepers who died in last week's earthquake in Haiti.
Lula himself wept as he gave his condolences to family and friends of the soldiers, whose bodies were laid out in coffins under Brazilian flags in the capital Brasilia.
The 18 died in the January 12 quake that killed more than 75,000 Haitians.
They were part of a 9,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission that has been in Haiti since 2004. Brazil has military command of the force and has contributed the biggest contingent of soldiers, numbering 1,300.
(With Agencies’ inputs)
First Published: Friday, January 22, 2010, 15:38