Rescue and Aid
UN disputes charges of favoritism in Haiti rescue
By Wu Chong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-21 10:53
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NEW YORK: Four more people were pulled out of rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti by international search and rescue teams, bringing the total number of lives saved by those teams to 121 by the noon on Jan 20, according to the United Nations.
A UN official slammed accusations that certain rescue teams had been favoring their own citizens rather than rescuing Haitians in the aftermath of the devastating Jan 12 earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people.
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 Haitian workers unload supplies for the U.N. World Food Program at Jacmel airport, southwest of Port-au-Prince January 20, 2010. [Photo/Agencies] |
"I think they've done this overall in a very fair way," John Holmes, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told reporters during a news briefing Wednesday.
It is true that the Chinese team did take the lead in seeking out the UN building - where eight Chinese people were killed - he said, but "they were elsewhere as well."
"It (The accusation) is insulting to people doing that (rescue work)," Holmes added.
In the meantime, Holmes said he had yet "no clear picture" of extra damage of the latest 6.1-magnitude aftershock impacting the west of Port-au-Prince, the capital, early Wednesday.
In Port-au-Prince, however, the coordination of rescue work and aid delivery is improving, according to Holmes. In addition to smoother operations at the airport, the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, has also opened some small airports and more roads for emergency supply deliveries, he said.
Half a million of victims should have by far received food delivered by several organizations and water is now available despite a problem of retrieving it from main treatment plant. Some banks in Port-au-Prince may open tomorrow to kick-start the flow of money, Holmes added.
The Haitian government may also establish 30 to 40 sites in the capital where money can be made available with the support from UN.
The UN Development Program(UNDP) is expanding its cash-for-work program, temporary employment, to another 700 local people to help remove rubble and restore infrastructure, according to Rebeca Grynspan, assistant administrator of the UNDP.
Those workers, in addition to the 400 previously included, will each receive $5 a day. So far, the UNDP and the Spanish government have provided $5 million for the work project.
At least 50,000 people will benefit from it in the early stages, Grynspan said, and about 220,000 people are expected to be ultimately involved.
At least four countries have expressed initial interest in sending their troops, backing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal to add more security forces, said Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky.
"It will make more sense for the countries which have already had troops on the ground to send additional troops," he added.
Nesirky also said that 49 UN staff members have been confirmed dead from the earthquake, and more than 300 are still unaccounted for.
Currently, more than 30 healthcare teams are working together to treat the injured and ill. But there is still a big concern about the large number of injured who may be infected or waiting for urgent surgical treatment.
