HAITI / SCAVENGERS

Quake survivors are scavenging scrap iron and metals from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince and in dump sites on the outskirts of the city. But some of the debris is collected together with the dead, creating a health hazard. MINUSTAH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 3 February 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
• Geographic Subject: HAITI; UNITED NATIONS STABILIZATION MISSION IN HAITI - MINUSTAH
• MAMS Id: U100203h

Description

STORY: HAITI / SCAVENGERS
TRT: 1:55
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRCTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS

DATELINE: 3 FEBRUARY 2010, TRUTIER, HAITI

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, collapsed building in the city
2. Close up, man-breaking iron from rubble
3. Med shot, man scavenging through rubble
4. Wide shot, dumping site
5. Med shot, men scavenging for iron
6. Med shot, scavenger breaking the iron from a handsaw
7. Close up, iron bars
8. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joseph Fridner, Scavenger:
"This iron is a utility and you need them to build houses and other things. Some people take it to sell to industries, but right now the companies that buy the iron are not operational. We will continue to collect this iron for its useful in the future."
9. Wide shot, scavengers at the dump site
10. Med shot, man walking away with pile of iron rods on his head
11. Pan right, pile of collected iron rods on a makeshift carrier
12. Wide shot, dump site with people scavenging
13. Med shot, people going through trash at the site
14. Med shot, dump site engineer walking past camera
15. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Carl Henry Vieillo, Manager, dump site:
“Even when we advise them to get out of here, they don’t listen because for them it’s an economic activity. For me it’s not easy to chase them away because they are always here and they threaten me. Before the trash is brought it is supposed to be separated, things like plastic, bottles, paper and iron, but this is not being done. This dump site should only have organic trash.”
16. Med shot, man breaking concrete with edge hammer
17. Close up, man breaking concrete
18. Wide shot, pile of iron rods as people scavenge in the background

Storyline

On top of collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince and in dump sites on the outskirts of city, scavengers gather to collect scrap iron and metals as a means of making some money to feed themselves.

While some look for mangled iron rods to sell, others pick through the debris looking for clothes and any material that could be used as shelter.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joseph Fridner, Scavenger:
"This iron is a utility and you need them to build houses and other things. Some people take it to sell to industries, but right now the companies that buy the iron are not operational. We will continue to collect this iron for its useful in the future."

The dump in Trutier, a few miles north of Port-au-Prince, has long been known as a site for organic waste. Today, in the rubble, all kinds of garbage ranging from plastic and bottles to paper can be found.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Carl Henry Vieillo, Dump site Manager:
“Even when we advise them to get out of here, they don’t listen because for them it’s an economic activity. For me it’s not easy to chase them away because they are always here and they threaten me. Before the trash is brought it is supposed to be separated, things like plastic, bottles, paper and iron, but this is not being done. This dump site should only have organic trash.”

And the debris is sometimes collected together with the dead, creating a health hazard. Last month, the United Nations (UN) reported that several thousand bodies had been thrown into dump sites outside the city.

The UN has taken many of the bodies to a central location for eventual identification and burial but many remain unidentified.