Relief Items Reach Some 200,000 Persons Daily as the Coastal town of Gressier Receives First Aid Consignment
IOM and all of its partners are now distributing essential non-food
items, such as plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry
cans, mosquito nets and water purification tablets to some 200,000
persons per day.
On Friday, IOM distributed family hygiene kits and jerry cans to
some 18, 000 persons in Petit-Goâve and in Gressier, a small
costal town 12 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince.
In Gressier, where 40 to 50% of the buildings were destroyed in
the 12 January earthquake, the population greeted the IOM staff
with applause. The Mayor of Gressier, Paul-Jean Michelet said,
"This is the first assistance we've received since the earthquake
struck. We've pleaded for help but nobody came. Once we contacted
IOM, it didn't take long for them to respond."
Pressing needs in Petit-Goâve include water purification
kits, potable water, shelter, medical supplies and facilities, food
and fuel.
On 21 January, IOM distributed hygiene kits and jerry cans to
some 26,000 persons in the western coastal town of Léogane,
which also suffered extensive damage.
In Port-au-Prince, IOM has distributed large tents to NGOs and
to city hospitals for use as mobile medical units. IOM is also
expecting an additional six hospital tents provided by UNHCR, which
will be distributed to clinics in and around the capital.
Some 20,000 family-size tents are currently available in
Port-au-Prince with additional shipments arriving over the weekend
from USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the
United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These
include 18 forty foot containers trucks filled with various non
food items, one million litres of water, cots, blankets, plastic
sheeting, tarpaulins and hygiene kits.
a Donation
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"
style="margin-left: 7px;"> "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.usaim.org" target=
"_blank" title="">United States
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"
style="margin-left: 7px;"> "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://iomdonations.kintera.org/" target="_blank" title="">Other
Countries
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"
style="margin-left: 7px;"> "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://ochadms.unog.ch/quickplace/cap/main.nsf/h_Index/Flash_2010_Haiti/$FILE/Flash_2010_Haiti_SCREEN.pdf?OpenElement"
target="_blank" title="">Haiti Earthquake Flash Appeal
2010
A total of 508 makeshift settlements have been identified in the
greater Port-au-Prince area. The 314 settlements assessed so far by
IOM, the Government of Haiti and partners, indicate a population of
472,000 people. Of the assessed settlements, 179 have improvised
shelters and tents and only 3 have direct access to potable water
sources.
Meanwhile, work continues in the suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets
where a Brazilian battalion deployed with MINUSTAH has now levelled
the ground and is working on establishing water and sanitation
facilities for a tented settlement and where the Inter-American
Development Bank is planning to build permanent houses for 30,000
people.
The Government of Haiti is planning to establish six sites in
the greater Port-au-Prince area, each able to accommodate a few
thousand individuals. Earthquake victims will be relocated to these
sites pending reconstruction efforts.
As part of an initial appeal launched last week, the
Organization is asking for US$ 30 million to provide emergency
shelter, non-food assistance, track internal displacement and among
other things, establish a food-for-work programme that would
include rubble removal.
IOM has so far received pledges totalling USD 19,6 million from
the US government (OFDA/USAID), Sweden, Canada, France, Finland,
Korea, the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Clinton
Foundation and Argos Cement Company of Colombia to support ongoing
relief operations and future rebuilding efforts.
Private donations can be made to IOM through the IOM website at
"http://www.iom.int">www.iom.int and in the United States at
class="paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.usaim.org/PROJECTHaiti.asp" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.usaim.org/PROJECTHaiti.asp
For further information, please contact:
Niurka Pineiro
Port-au-Prince
Tel: + 509 3490 6678
Email:
"mailto:npineiro@iom.int" target="" title=
"">npineiro@iom.int
or
Jean Philippe Chauzy
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9361
+ 41 79 285 4366
E-mail:
"mailto:pchauzy@iom.int">pchauzy@iom.int
Jemini Pandya
Tel: + 41 22 717 9486
+ 41 79 217 3374
E-mail:
"mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int