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HAITI / UPDATE
STORY: HAITI/ UPDATE
TRT: 3.35
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI/ FILE
FILE – 13 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Various aerial shots, earthquake destruction
15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE
2. SOUNDBITE (English) David Wimhurst, Chief of Public Information, MINUSTAH:
“In a situation like this, where the needs are great and some areas are inaccessible, I mean, there’s been such a collapse of buildings, the roads are covered, we can’t get in. It’s very difficult. So, people are going to have a feeling in some pockets that they have been abandoned, which is not the case. Nobody’s been abandoned. But if they have that feeling and they see that they are not getting the assistance they need, they could start to take matters into their own hands, and that’s always the danger in a situation like this. You know, it could become more volatile, so we are very conscious of that and we are doing everything we can to, with the troops and police at our disposal to make sure stability is maintained. And we can bring other soldiers in from the surrounding countryside where there’s been no damage to help bolster the situation if necessary. But for now, sporadic pockets of looting, but basically it’s calm.”
FILE – 14 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
3. Various shots, people walking through rubble
15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Wimhurst, Chief of Public Information, MINUSTAH:
“Of course, behind and under those rubble in all those buildings we are going to find hopefully some survivors, but inevitably bodies. And already I think that the government said it has buried 7,000, and there are many more that will come. The overall estimate of casualties by the government itself is about 100,000. That cannot be verified at this time, but it seems like a likely number. Certainly the losses are huge and vast and the needs are very, very great.”
FILE – 14 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
5. Various shots, dead and injured
15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE
6. SOUNDBITE (English) David Wimhurst, Chief of Public Information, MINUSTAH:
“We relocated to our logistics base which is within the precinct of the airport where we have our own air terminal, and all of the staff who were formerly working at our headquarters which were destroyed, have moved here. So we are living and working in offices, we’ve taken over offices belonging to colleagues. We are now very crowded, sleeping on the floor, sleeping on the grass outside at night, eating ration packs, bottled water, trying to stay clean, and trying to deal of course with the many demands, because we are basically living and working at a logistics base.”
FILE – 12 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
7. Various shots, rescue operation at UN Headquarters
15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE
8. SOUNDBITE (English) David Wimhurst, Chief of Public Information, MINUSTAH:
“The port, the seaport needs to be rebuilt because supplies can’t come in; it’s been damaged in the earthquake. The airport is now functioning, we have some assistance with additional air traffic controllers, movement control personnel coming in to help because we have so many planes landing and taking off. Generally we are doing everything we can, and when I say we I mean the United Nations family in Haiti, plus assistance from the international community and the donors. We are doing everything we can to get the aid to those who need it most as quickly as possible.”
FILE – 13 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
Various shots, injured being airlifted
The United Nations is scaling up its assistance to victims of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake which devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, wrecking buildings and leaving basic services on the brink of collapse.
The Chief of Public Information for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), David Wimhurst, contemplated the possibility of increased looting as many people in inaccessible areas might feel like “they have been abandoned”, which he insisted is not the case, and “could start to take matters into their own hands”.
Wimhurst stressed that for now, there have been “sporadic pockets of looting, but basically it’s calm.”
The 7.0 magnitude tremors which struck Haiti – the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country – on Tuesday are estimated to have affected one third of the nation’s nine million people.
While no official figures are available yet on the dead or injured, the death toll is expected to be high.
Wimhurst acknowledged that although “hopefully some survivors” will be found, many thousands of bodies will be uncovered from under the rubble. He said that “the government said it has buried 7,000” bodies so far and “there are many more that will come”.
The Haitian government has estimated 100,000 deaths, which Wimhurst said “seems like a likely number”.
MINUSTAH is in the process of building back its capacity, with the top UN official in Haiti, Hédi Annabi, still unaccounted for. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched Edmond Mulet, his former Special Representative to Haiti and current Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, to the country to assume full command of the mission.
Wimhurst explained that mission staff have relocated to the logistics base which is within the precinct of the airport. He said that staff “are living and working” in crowded offices ”sleeping on the floor, sleeping on the grass outside at night, eating ration packs, bottled water, trying to stay clean, and trying to deal of course with the many demands.”
The Office for the Coordination Affairs (OCHA) said that food and medical help have started to arrive in Port-au-Prince, but that the scale is inevitably limited so far. The Office is coordinating some 25 search-and-rescue teams – considered a top priority as many people remained trapped under rubble – while a further 13 teams are set to arrive shortly.
Wimhurst described the difficulties faced by the relief operation noting that the seaport needs to be rebuilt “because supplies can’t come in” and that the airport is now functioning thanks to assistance additional air traffic and movement control personnel “coming in to help”.
He highlighted that “the United Nations family in Haiti” with assistance from the international community and donors “are doing everything we can to get the aid to those who need it most as quickly as possible.”
The United Nations is appealing for $560 million to help victims and the Secretary-General announced today that he will soon travel to Haiti.
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