Desperate attempts to send emergency relief

DESPERATE efforts to get aid from the EU and other parts of the world distributed to the earthquake victims in Haiti are under way.

More than €5 million in emergency aid funds has been donated by the EU and the Netherlands so far, and every member state has offered help, from field hospitals and medical staff to aircraft and canine search teams.

But the first problem is how to get the considerable amount of aid that has arrived out to the estimated three million people who need it, EU expert on the ground in Haiti, Daniel Urena, said.

“The problem is there are too few people to offload the planes coming in,” he said. The port has been closed and the airport overwhelmed by the influx of aid and equipment. The expert team from the EU’s civil protection unit who arrived on Thursday got straight to work while an EU water and sanitation specialist is helping the UN’s coordination group. A health specialist and an administrator to set up a new emergency office were en route to Haiti yesterday.

The EU’s office and that of most aid agencies in the capital Port au Prince have been badly damaged or destroyed, several staff have lost their lives and more are still missing.

Some neighbourhoods are still connected to the water system, but it and electricity is still cut off in most of the town. The communication system is also down, but EU partner organisation, Telecom without Borders, are working to restore it.

EU development ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday to coordinate their efforts. Called by the bloc’s new external relations chief, Catherine Ashton, she said they also need to discuss the longer-term needs of what is one of the world’s poorest countries.

The EU is already one of the largest humanitarian donors in Haiti having provided around €28m in the last 18 months, some to reduce malnutrition and mortality.