23275: Esser: Disaster Upon Disaster (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>

Centre des médias alternatifs du Québec
http://www.cmaq.net

'Disaster Upon Disaster' in Haiti, *Real* Flood Update


Flashpoints Radio Interviews Correspondent Kevin Pina on Haiti
Floods, September 24, 2004

Solange Echeverria: Hurricane Jeanne’s wrath continued to wreak havoc
in Haiti, with hundreds of thousands of homeless, over 1,100 dead,
and over 1,200 still missing. And these numbers continue to rise. The
calamitous combination of nature’s fury and political upheaval has
been relentless and the human cost inhumane. Once again, Kevin Pina
joins us for a quick update. I know that you are coming down with the
flu, so I appreciate this. Can you give us a quick update in terms of
what is going on there, the potential for disease, infections, what’s
going on there?

Kevin Pina: Well the relief efforts are proceeding slowly. There’s
just disaster upon disaster, and most of this has to do with lack of
infrastructure in the North of Haiti; we discussed the reasons for
that last night.* Hospital Justimieme [sp], which is the largest
hospital in the North, in that particular area, in Cap Haitien,
caught fire yesterday afternoon, more than 400 most of them children,
patients, were forced to evacuate the building. Half of the hospital
which, as I said, which is the largest hospital in that entire region
has burned. It’s not clear what the cause of the fire was, but there
just seems to be disaster upon disaster. Most of it seems to be
occurring because of lack of infrastructure, lack of experienced
people on the ground who have experience with relief work, people who
can handle and process this devastating event.

I’ve received several very disturbing calls today, in a different
story. I want to emphasize that I don’t have final confirmation on
this but spoke with some family members who have relatives who are
political prisoners, Lavalas political prisoners, who were in the
prison in Gonaives, and they are concerned, because they are telling
me that their loved ones were never released, and they may have
drowned in their jail cells, which of course would be just another
dimension to this incredible tragedy. I want to emphasize again that
we have reporters who are on the ground there now who are looking at
this seriously, trying to get to these family members, trying to make
inquiries with the local police in Gonaives. The local police, of
course, who are being run by the former military, and by the
self-appointed Mayor, Butteur Metayer, who was called by Colin Powell
a “gangster” and a “thug,” so it would not surprise a lot of
observers if indeed when this flood hit, that Lavalas political
prisoners, who were being held in a prison in Gonaives, were never
released.

Solange: Can you talk to us about the humanitarian issues, the human
cost in Haiti, in a country that is trying so, so hard to maintain
its dignity. Can you talk about that; what is it that people need the
most there?

Kevin: It’s really hard to judge, because there really is no watchdog
organization on the ground to ensure that aid is going to get to the
people who need it. There’s already questions being raised, scandals
are already brewing around organizations that are raising money in
the name of flood victims. Everybody’s falling all over themselves to
start an organization, to get part of the money and the aid that they
know is going to come in, and this includes people like the Group of
184, which was the opposition against Aristide, and the Democratic
Convergence led by Evans Paul; even political parties are now forming
their own relief agencies in the hopes that some of this aid will be
funnelled through their groups. And, as I said, there’s already a few
scandals brewing, and I think that in the months to come we’re going
to see a lot of scandals come out of the relief efforts that are
happening on the ground. The most credible organizations at this
moment who are on the ground in Cap Haitien and Gonaives are the
American Friends Service Committee [I know have a presence there
now], of course the International Red Cross, as well as the United
Nations who are leading their own effort as well.

Selange: Thank you Kevin for keeping us posted. If people wanted to
send any kind of help, where would they go?

Kevin: They could go to www.haitiaction.net; there’s a link for an
organization called the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund; I forgot to
mention them, they also do have a presence in the North and are
working with grassroots organizations.

* On Wednesday, September 23, Pina said this about the lack of
infrastructure: “U.N. efforts to aid the victims are being hindered
by the political climate, meaning the former military, which the
United Nations allowed to take several townships over the past month,
have driven out the local police, so it’s a very difficult security
situation on the ground for relief workers, NGOs…The Disaster
Preparedness Network which was built with USAID financing over the
last two years, with a contract with the American Development
Foundation, was completely and utterly destroyed by the forced ouster
of democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide on
February 29th. [This] has not helped efforts at all in terms of
getting relief to the victims.”

http://www.flashpoints.net
.