NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

[nancyk58]

UPDATES of the situation in HAITI / articles from 3 and 4 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 4 FEBRUARY 2010

 

DETAINED AMERICANS QUESTIONED BY HAITIAN JUDGE

 

(02/03/2010 | 07:25 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A group of US Baptist missionaries arrested trying to leave Haiti with a busload of children they gathered from the disaster zone were being questioned Tuesday by a judge.

 

The investigating magistrate queried the five women for several hours and will follow up with the five men on Wednesday, according to the Haiti's communications minister. No lawyers were present, and the Americans have yet to be charged.

 

Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue says the evidence will be presented to a Haitian district attorney to decide whether to file charges.

 

The Baptists from Idaho say they were only trying to help orphans survive the earthquake. But legal experts say taking children across a border without documents or government permission can be considered CHILD TRAFFICKING.

 

At the SOS Children's Village orphanage where authorities are protecting the 33 children, regional director Patricia Vargas said none who are old enough and willing to talk had said they were orphans: "Up until now we have not encountered any who say they are an orphan."

 

Vargas said most of the children are between 3 and 6 years old, and unable to provide phone numbers or any other details about their origins.

 

The Americans apparently enlisted a clergyman who went knocking on doors asking people if they wanted to give away their children, the director of Haiti's social welfare agency, Jeanne Bernard Pierre, told The Associated Press.

 

"One child said to me, 'When they came knocking on our door asking for children, my mom decided to give me away because we are six children and by giving me away she would have only five kids to care for,'" Bernard Pierre said.

 

About 10 parents have come forward saying their children were taken, but it wasn't clear if any are related the case involving the Americans, Bernard Pierre said.

 

Prime Minister Max Bellerive has suggested the Americans could be prosecuted in the United States because Haiti's shattered court system may not be able to cope with a trial.

 

"It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents. And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong," Bellerive told the AP.

 

The White House has said the case remains in Haitian hands for now.

 

Central Valley Baptist Church Assistant Pastor Drew Ham in Idaho called Tuesday for their immediate release, saying questioning them without lawyers violates the Haitian Constitution.

 

The US government could claim jurisdiction to try them in the United States, but one expert on international abductions doubts it will happen, since prosecutors are likely to take into account the mitigating circumstances.

 

"They have obviously made a huge mistake by unilaterally going into Haiti and taking children without the permission and knowledge of the Haitian government. It's a crime in Haiti and anywhere in the world to take or abduct children even if the underlying intentions were humanitarian or good in nature," said Christopher Schmidt, an attorney with Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis.

 

"Whether or not a prosecutor would choose to prosecute these individuals in this case is an open question. Frankly I have doubts whether a prosecutor would want to go down that path," he said.

 

- AP

 

 

NAOMI CAMPBELL PLANS FASHION SHOW FOR HAITI RELIEF

 

(02/04/2010 | 11:31 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

NEW YORK – Naomi Campbell called on the fashion world to do its part for the Haiti relief effort — and the fashion world answered: There will be a CHARITY CATWALK SHOW pairing top models and designers at New York Fashion Week.

 

Campbell organized the first FASHION FOR RELIEF event at the Bryant Park tents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has since taken it to Tanzania and Mumbai, India. The return to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Feb. 12 comes at the right time, Campbell said.

 

"Everyone else is trying to help Haiti, and we wanted to do our part on the fashion side of things," Campbell said in a telephone interview from Paris. "The response has been overwhelming. No one has said `no' — which means a lot because it's such a busy time with designers preparing their fall collections."

 

The event is still coming together, but Campbell said she had called upon her friends, including Christy Turlington and the Duchess of York, asking them to participate. Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe is putting together the looks, and designer Marc Jacobs has already created a special Louis Vuitton handbag, one of many items that will go on sale on the Net-a-Porter Web site March 15, with proceeds going to the organization CARE.

 

Campbell also noted that, to make this happen, designer Charlotte Ronson gave up her original time slot at Fashion Week, when the new season of styles are previewed for editors, retailers and stylists.

 

"Fashion for Relief only works if everyone comes together and makes it work," Campbell said.

 

The 39-year-old, who rarely walks the runway nowadays, will be one of the models. She hasn't retired from the catwalk, she said, although she saves most of her appearances for charity shows.

 

"Naomi is a superstar and has a lot of connections," said Ivan Bart, senior vice president of IMG Models. "She can make some phone calls and put on a show."

 

Bart promises an entertaining event, which isn't at odds with its serious mission. "Raising money to help people doesn't have to be boring. It's an opportunity for people who don't normally go to fashion shows to get into this world."

 

Tickets will go on sale to American Express cardmembers Friday through Ticketmaster.

 

- AP

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Swedish SVT text: SWEDISH POLICE TO HAITI

According to a Swedish government resolution, 7 policemen - 3 experts and 4 from the criminal police - will be sent to Haiti to help rebuild the administration of justice that has been severely affected by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010, and they are to work within the framework of the UN Mission. Their task is to create safety and security for women and children. In Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince shots have been fired, and only few policemen were in sight.

 

Swedish SVT text: UN CRITICIZES IMF LOAN TO HAITI

A UN expert criticizes the International Monetary Fund for an interest-free loan of 114 million $ granted after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

Cephas Lumina, a UN independent expert when it comes to countries' indebtedness and human right says: "What Haiti needs is immediate and unconditional aid, not new loans".

Haiti owes a total of 890 million $ to the World Bank and to Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB. These amounts should be cancelled so that Haiti would have resources for rebuilding and reconstructing the country. -----------------------------------------------

 

Danish DR1 Text-TV: UNICEF: THE CHILDREN ON OUR PLANET SUFFER

The Unicef report appeals for nearly $1.2 billion in international donor funding for emergency-response efforts in countries covering six regions. This amount is required to be able to help the children on this planet - children affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts.

The Humanitarian Action Report, launched today by Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson at a press conference in Geneva, emphasizes the serious situation. The need for financial help is expected to have doubled in 2010. According to Hilde F. Johnson the biggest need is in Africa. According to UNICEF, the increasing need is caused by rising prices of vital food. The rising prices are again caused by the international financial downturn. Last year more than 1 billion people starved.

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http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_52686.html

 

UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report 2010 emphasizes power of partnerships

 

By Chris Niles and Tania McBride

 

NEW YORK, USA, 4 February 2010 – As much of the international community continues to focus attention on the disaster in Haiti, UNICEF's flagship Humanitarian Action Report emphasizes the critical role of partnerships in assisting vulnerable children and families caught in crisis situations worldwide.

The Humanitarian Action Report, launched today by Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson at a press conference in Geneva, is UNICEF's only publication dealing specifically with the needs of children and women in emergencies. It spotlights crises that require exceptional support, and additional funding, to save lives and protect children from harm in an increasingly challenging humanitarian environment.

This year's report – subtitled 'Partnering for children in emergencies' – says the world is seeing crises exacerbated by larger trends, such as climate change and the international financial downturn, that are beyond the capacity of any one agency to address.

 

'UNPRECEDENTED' CHALLENGES

"The tragic events in Haiti are still very present in our thoughts, with some 3 million people affected by the earthquake," said Ms. Johnson. "As we launch UNICEF's Humanitarian Action Report 2010, we know that millions of children are suffering also elsewhere. They suffer from disasters, conflicts and displacement around the world."

Reiterating the importance of partnerships, Ms. Johnson spoke of the collaboration needed at every level to address the urgent needs of children and women in Haiti – and in all of the 28 countries and territories featured in the report.

"The number of children affected by humanitarian disasters and crises, by hunger and malnutrition, is increasing significantly," she said. "Children are put at grave risk. It's unprecedented."

At the same time, armed conflict continues to blight the lives of millions of children. "In countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, DR Congo and Sudan, emergencies are becoming more and more complex," Ms. Johnson noted. "Children are subject to abuse and grave violations of their rights. This includes sexual violence, killing and maiming, and forced recruitment into armed groups."

 

ENSURING CHILDREN's RIGHTS

The new Humanitarian Action Report emphasizes the need to ensure that all children's rights are secured in a world that has just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To that end, the report appeals for nearly $1.2 billion in international donor funding for emergency-response efforts in countries covering six regions – from Eastern Europe to Africa to Asia to Latin America. The funding will be used to support a greater emphasis on emergency preparedness, early warning, disaster risk reduction and rapid recovery.

The report points out that UNICEF – working with communities, governments and civil society organizations – is developing new approaches to help vulnerable nations prepare for threats and respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

"The crises that we now face are unparalleled," said Ms. Johnson. "It's only by working with and through partners that we can deliver on our mission: to protect children in crises, respond to their needs and help fulfil their rights."

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in HAITI on 5 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 5 FEBRUARY 2010

 

ATTORNEY: 10 US BAPTISTS CHARGED WITH CHILD KIDNAP

 

(02/05/2010 | 07:54 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Ten members of a US missionary group who said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti's devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

 

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday's hearing and represents the entire group in Haiti.

 

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

 

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

 

The US citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to reporters but declined to answer questions.

 

Coq said that under Haiti's legal system, there won't be an open trial, but a judge will consider the evidence and could render a verdict in about three months.

 

Coq said a Haitian prosecutor told him the Americans were charged because they had the children in their possession. No one from the Haitian government could be reached immediately for comment.

 

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in prison. Each criminal association count has a potential sentence of three to nine years.

 

Coq said that nine of the 10 knew nothing about the alleged scheme, or that paperwork for the children was not in order.

 

"I'm going to do everything I can to get the nine out," Coq said. That would still leave mission leader Laura Silsby facing charges.

 

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington the US was open to discuss "other legal avenues" for the defendants — an apparent reference to the Haitian prime minister's earlier suggestion that Haiti could consider sending the Americans back to the United States for prosecution.

 

SEVERAL PARENTS of the children in Callebas, a quake-wracked Haitian village near the capital, told The Associated Press Wednesday they had HANDED OVER their children WILLINGLY because they were UNABLE TO FEED OR CLOTHE THEIR CHILDREN and the American missionaries promised to give them a BETTER LIFE.Their accounts contradicted statements by Silsby, of Meridian, Idaho.

 

In a jailhouse interview Saturday, Silsby told the AP that most of the children had been delivered to the Americans by distant relatives, while some came from orphanages that had collapsed in the quake.

 

"They are very precious kids that have lost their homes and families and are so deeply in need of, most of all, God's love and his compassion," she said.

 

In Callebas, parents said a local orphanage worker, fluent in English and acting on behalf of the Baptists, had convened nearly the entire village of 500 people on a dirt soccer field to present the Americans' offer.

 

Isaac Adrien, 20, told his neighbors the missionaries would educate their children in the neighboring Dominican Republic, the villagers said, adding that they were also assured they would be free to visit their children there. Many parents jumped at the offer.

 

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly where to find them.

 

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots, peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

 

As they loaded children onto a bus in Callebas on Jan. 28, the Americans took down CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ALL THE FAMILIES and assured them a relative would be able to visit them in the Dominican Republic.

 

The Americans' journey began last summer after Silsby and her former nanny, 24-year-old Charisa Coulter, resolved to establish an orphanage for Haitian children in the Dominican Republic. Coulter is among the jailed Americans.

 

They began buying up used clothing and collecting donations from their Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and in November, Silsby registered the New Life Children's Refuge Inc., the nonprofit organization coordinating the rescue mission. It listed the address of her now-foreclosed home in Meridian as its headquarters.

 

Then the quake hit. Silsby and Coulter moved into high gear, gathering donations and assembling a team to go into Haiti and urgently take out children, the younger woman's father, Mel Coulter, told the AP from his home in Kuna, Idaho.

 

The group packed 40 plastic bins of donated goods into a U-Haul trailer and drove to Salt Lake City on Jan. 22, where they took a flight to the Dominican Republic. They made their way to Haiti, where four days later, they were introduced to Adrien.

 

Adrien, who had served as the go-between and translator for the missionaries, said he had no knowledge of the group's larger plans; villagers said they were told none of their children would be offered for adoption.

 

A Haitian-born pastor who said he worked as an unpaid consultant for the group insisted the Baptists had done nothing wrong.

 

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their families, Sainvil said in Atlanta.

 

"Everybody agreed that they knew where the children were going. The parents were told, and we confirmed they would be allowed to see the children and even take them back if need be," he said.

 

Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who can't support their children to send them to orphanages.

 

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from quake-crippled Haiti.

 

Only minutes before the charges, the Americans' Dominican lawyer, Jorge Puello, had said he expected at least nine of the 10 to be released and said he was arranging a charter flight for them from Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital.

 

After the Haitian lawyer's announcement, Puello could not be reached by telephone for comment.

 

"I'm at the airport (in Santo Domingo) and we're getting the plane ready. We're just waiting for the green light," Puello said. "I spoke to a source inside the jail — a government official — who said nine would be released but one would be held for further investigation."

- AP

 

 

German ARD Text: 10 US CITIZENS CHARGED WITH CHILD ABDUCTION.

They face a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

 

Swedish SVT Text: US MISSIONARIES FORMALLY CHARGED WITH CHILD ABDUCTION.

Haiti's Minister of Justice, Paul Deins explained on Thursday that he did not see any reason why the 10 Americans should not be tried in the USA.

 

Danish Text-TV: AMERICANS CHARGED WITH CHILD ABDUCTION IN HAITI

Ten US Christian missionaries - 5 men and 5 women from Idaho in the USA - were charged with having the intention of illegal abduction of 33 Haitian children who had allegedly lost their parents in the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. The judge found sufficient evidence to charge the Americans who were arrested last Friday.

 

BBC World/News: RECOVERY EFFORT, STILL FOCUS / HAITI WARNS US CASE "DISTRACTING"

The Haitian prime minister has warned that the case of 10 US missionaries charged with child abduction is a "distraction" from earth quake recovery.Jean-Max Bellerive said more than 200,000 people have died in the quake and 1 million still needed help. The group of missionaries has been charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy. They deny allegations that they tried to smuggle 33 children across the border to the Dominican Republic.

 

German ZDF Text: NUMBER OF HAITIANS WHO DIED IN THE EARTHQUAKE RISEN TO 212,000.

According to Haiti's prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive, 212,000 dead bodies have been recovered in Port-au-Prince and outside of Haiti's capital. More than 300,000 were injured in the quake. Most of them have received medical treatment and care since then. Many Haitians were already homeless before the quake struck on 12 January 2010. Now it is estimated that about 2 million Haitians are homeless.

 

Swedish SVT Text: According to Haiti's prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive, the death toll has risen to 212,000 in Haiti. This is the highest death toll after a natural disaster in America. And Bellerive expected the final death toll to be even higher. There were many homeless before the earthquake on 12 January 2010, so now there are approximately 2 million homeless Haitians.

 

Danish Text-TV: PRISONERS RETURNED TO HAITI's PRISONS.

4 policemen arrested 100 of 4,000 who escaped from the central prison in Haiti on 12 January. Now they are looking for the rest of the escaped prisoners. All 4,000 prisoners fled on 12 January including those convicted of rape and murder.

More than 200,000 Haitians died and 1 million Haitians were made homeless in the quake that struck on 12 January 2010.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia and Haiti

 

PERSONAL REPORT FROM HAITI

 

From: UNICEF Denmark([email protected])

Sent: 4 February 2010 at 07:40:18

 

My name is Nadine Perrault, and I work for UNICEF as an expert in protection of

vulnerable children in Latin America and the Caribbean. I am visiting Denmark to talk about the huge reconstruction work facing my country Haiti after the devastating earthquake three weeks ago - a disaster that has affected me deeply. I am a Haitian, and my family members live in Port-au-Prince. Fortunately they are all unharmed, but many of my friends and colleagues have lost a spouse, elderly relatives and children.

 

The earthquake came as a total surprise to the Haitian people, and too many were killed because they did not know how to protect themselves. Many Haitians ran indoors for shelter and were buried in the ruins. Three million people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas are now living on the street, and 1.2 million of them are children below 14 years. Many of the children have been separated from their families or orphaned.

 

My job is to ensure the protection of children. In the first weeks after the earthquake, I visited children in hospitals, orphanages and institutions. First we made sure that they got water, food and blankets. Then we took the lost children to some special whereabouts for children where they could get shelter and psychological first aid.

 

At the same time we worked hard to trace the children's families. It was and is still a difficult task because many of the kids are so young that they cannot tell who they are. Other children were so traumatized that it took several days before they said a word.

 

When children are alone without adults to protect them, they are very vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Several times for example we have experienced that someone tried to steal children by taking them away from hospitals. So we fear a big increase in the number of children who are abducted into prostitution or illegal adoptions. Therefore, UNICEF cooperates with governments in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic to keep an eye on the children crossing the border in the company of adults who cannot prove that they are allowed to travel with the children.

 

It is hard for me to see what tragic state my country is in. Port-au-Prince is one big ruin. I will return to Haiti in a few days to resume relief work which fortunately is moving forward. I am convinced that, in the middle of this enormous tragedy, we can create lasting improvements to the Haitian children. But it will be a formidable task to regenerate my country, and Haiti is going to need help for a very long time.

 

I am very touched that people in a small country like Denmark can mobilize so much generosity and willingness to help my people at this difficult time.

 

With all my heart: Thank you!

 

Best regards

Nadine Perrault

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in HAITI / News on 6 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION ON HAITI ON 6 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Danish DR1: AMERICANS SENT TO PRISON IN HAITI.

A Haitian judge has sent 10 US Christian missionaries to prison charged with illegal abduction of 33 Haitian children.

The Americans were arrested a week ago suspected of having the intention of smuggling the Haitian children from Haiti into the Dominican Republic.

The Americans - all members of a Baptist community in Idaho, the USA - denied the charges and they denied having had any criminal intentions. They just wanted to help the orphans to a better life.

 

 

Swedish SVT: SMUGGLERS OF HAITIAN CHILDREN ARE STILL IN CUSTODY / IN PRISON.

The 10 Americans arrested under suspicion of having kidnapped 33 children and tried to take the children out of Haiti have been denied conditional release and they are still under arrest, their lawyer, Edwin Coq told the French news agency AFP.

Friday last week the ten baptists - 5 women and 5 men - were arrested near the border to the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbouring country.

The group was then illegally taking 33 Haitian children, aged 2 monts to 14 years, out of Haiti.

 

 

BBC WORLD / NEWS: CLINTON PLEDGES BETTER HAITI AID.

Haiti faces a massive task helping those who lost homes and livelihoods in the recent earthquake, former US President Bill Clinton has admitted.

Named by the UN as international aid co-ordinator, Mr Clinton was visiting Haiti's damaged capital Port-au-Prince.

There were protests as he met Haiti's president after which Mr. Clinton vowed to speed up sluggish aid deliveries.

Mr. Clinton visited as 10 US citizens facing child abduction charges were denied conditional release.

 

 

German ZDF text: UN URGENTLY LOOKING FOR TOILETS FOR HAITI / CLINTON IN HAITI.

After water, food and shelters the insufficient number of toilets is a problem for Port-au-Prince which was devastated in the earthquake on 12 January. Sanitary installations are urgently needed, UN's spokesman in New York said. "We need 7,000 latrines and 25,000 camping toilets."

In the meantime Bill Clinton, UN's special envoy has arrived in Haiti again. He pledged the poor Caribbean Republic a better co-ordination of the aid.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation / News on 7 February 2010

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 7 FEBRUARY 2010

 

BBC WORLD/ News: G7 PROMISES TO WRITE OFF DEBT

 

The world's leading industrialized nations have pledged to write off the debts that Haiti owes them following a devastating earthquake last month.

Canada's finance minister Jim Flaherty announced at a summit in Iquluit, northern Canada, that the Group of Seven countries, G7, planned to cancel Haiti's bilateral debts.

Jim Flaherty said he would encourage international lenders to do the same.

Some $1.2 billion (£800 million) of Haiti's debts to countries and international lending bodies has already been cancelled.

 

 

DR1text: G7 CANCELS HAITI'S DEBTS.

 

G7, the group of influential industrialized countries, cancels Haiti's debts after the devastating earthquake a month ago. Some of Haiti's debts had already been cancelled before the earthquake that completely destroyed large parts of Haiti and paralyzed the economy of the Caribbean country. Haiti still owes about 5 billion Danish kroner to the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank. Haiti's economy is in ruins after the earthquake.

 

 

SVT Text: G7 CANCELS HAITI'S DEBTS.

 

Some of Haiti's debts to the 7 countries, the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, had already been cancelled. But Haiti's outstanding foreign debts corresponds to 6.5 bn Swedish kroner.

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UPDATE OF THE SITUATION ON 7 FEBRUARY 2010

 

STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS AREA OFF SOUTHERN JAPAN COAST

 

(02/07/2010 | 03:51 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

TOKYO — Japanese officials issued a tsunami warning Sunday for several small islands after a strong earthquake shook an area off the country's southern coast.

 

The Meteorological Agency said the earthquake hit at 3:10 p.m. (6:10 GMT) and registered at magnitude 6.6. The US Geological Survey measured it at 6.4. - There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

 

The Japanese agency said the tsunami was expected to be about 1.6 feet (50 centimeters) high.

 

The quake hit 69 miles (110 kilometers) off the southern coast of Miyakojima island, in southern Japan, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), it said. - The small island is about 1,120 miles (1,800 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

 

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of KOBE killed 6,400 people.

— AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in HAITI on 7 and 8 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 7 and 8 FEBRUARY 2010

 

FOR GMA NEWS TEAM IN HAITI, A FEAR OF THE MOB

 

(2/07/2010 | 12:26 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

Nearly a month after the earthquake that killed an estimated 150,000 people, terrifying AFTERSHOCKS have forced GMA Network’s news team in Haiti to sleep in tents and away from the standing hotels that could have provided a semblance of creature comforts, like working toilets and wifi.

 

“We were afraid it [a hotel] would collapse if another earthquake struck. We slept wherever we could and wherever we could set up our equipment (videophone) – in a military camp, in tents, in our vehicle", said GMA News reporter Jiggy Manicad via email.

 

But getting trapped in the rubble like scores of others was not even their biggest worry. Manicad said just carrying around fuel and food supplies put them in danger.

 

“The Haitians are hungry, so if they see you with food or water, that can be the start of trouble", he said.

 

The CHAOS in the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas has led to LOOTING, RIOTING, and a spike in crime. Manicad said that the head of the Filipino peacekeepers in Haiti, Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, assigned two military escorts to guard GMA News’ four-man team.

 

Aside from Manicad, the team includes cameraman Bodgie Sonza and engineers Allan Gutierrez and Eric Mercado. GMA Network was the only Philippines-based media organization that sent a team to cover the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake.

 

Manicad reports that 80 percent of the capital has been destroyed. "The death and suffering are unimaginable. I’m used to crime reporting, but I still cannot understand why they treat their loved ones like garbage. They burn the bodies which are picked up by garbagemen. The government has no system to handle this crisis and the victims."

 

Joining hundreds of other news teams in Haiti, but mostly from the Western hemisphere, Manicad’s team accompanied a Philippine emergency medical team nearly two weeks ago on a roundabout journey to this island country considered the poorest nation in the Americas.

 

Flying to the Dominican Republic from Miami, Florida, the group had to drive overland for several bumpy hours to reach Haiti. Landing rights at Port-au-Prince’s airport were reserved mostly for relief flights.

 

Among other stories, the GMA team has filed reports on the work of the Philippine medical team, the bodies still lining the streets, the search for survivors, and the grief and suffering of Haitians. Four Filipinos have been confirmed dead, including three UN peacekeepers, while hopes are dwindling that two Filipino civilians trapped in a collapsed supermarket, Grace Fabian and Maggie Lalican, will be found alive.

 

The media have struggled with some of the same logistical problems that relief agencies face: lack of power and security.

 

Manicad’s team brought a generator and their own videophone equipment that enabled them to report live. They sent footage over the Internet. Manicad had previously reported from Baghdad and Mount Everest, among other special assignments.

 

Despite the expense and risks of sending a team to Haiti, GMA Network’s assistant vice president for news Grace dela Peña-Reyes said “we really felt we had to be there."

 

“It’s the biggest story in the world," she said.

 

– Howie Severino, GMANews.TV

 

 

HAITIAN LAWYER FOR JAILED US MISSIONARIES FIRED

 

(02/07/2010 | 08:47 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The Haitian lawyer for 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnapping tried to bribe the missionaries' way out of jail and has been fired, the attorney who hired him said Saturday night.

 

The Haitian lawyer, Edwin Coq, denied the allegation. He said the $60,000 he requested from the Americans' families was his fee.

 

Jorge Puello, the attorney in the neighboring Dominican Republic retained by relatives of the 10 American missionaries after their arrest last week, told The Associated Press that he fired Coq on Friday night. He had hired Coq to represent the detainees at Haitian legal proceedings.

 

Coq orchestrated "some kind of extortion with government officials" that would have led to the release of nine of the 10 missionaries, Puello charged.

 

"He had some people inside the court that asked him for money, and he was part of this scheme," Puello said. - Coq denied the requested $60,000 payment amounted to a bribe.

 

"I have worked for 10 people for four days working all hours," he said. "Look at what hour I'm working now, responding to these calls. I have the right to this money." On Friday, Coq had told the AP that he was working for no fee.

 

Puello said Coq initially requested $10,000 but kept asking for bigger and bigger amounts. He said that when Coq reached $60,000, he said he could guarantee it would lead to the Americans' release.

 

A magistrate charged the group's members Thursday with child kidnapping and criminal association for trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-ravaged Haiti without the proper documents.

 

The Americans said they were a humanitarian mission to rescue orphans after Haiti's catastrophic Jan. 12 quake.

 

But at least 20 of the children had living parents. Some told the AP they gave the kids to the group because the missionaries promised to educate them at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic and said they would allow parents to visit.

 

Coq said Thursday that the group's leader, Laura Silsby of Meridian, Idaho, deceived the others by telling them she had the proper documents to remove the children from Haiti.

 

The Dominican consul in Haiti, Carlos Castillo, has said he warned Silsby on Jan. 29, the day the group was detained at the border, that she lacked the required papers and risked being arrested for child trafficking.

 

Asked if Silsby had deceived the other nine Baptists by assuring them she had the proper papers, Puello said Saturday, "I believe that is true."

 

He referred further questions on that issue to Sean Lankford, also of Meridian and the husband and father of two of the jailed missionaries.

 

Reached by the AP on Saturday night, Lankford would not comment. "I don't have time right now to talk to you," he said. - NBC News reported Saturday that there are divisions within the jailed group.

 

It said some of the missionaries handed an NBC producer a note through bars of their holding cell earlier in the day that listed the names of all of them but Silsby and her former nanny and partner in the orphanage, Charisa Coulter.

 

"We only came as volunteers. We had nothing to do with any documents and have been lied to," NBC quoted the notes saying "Please we fear our lives."

- AP

 

German ZDF Text on 8 February 2010 - Haiti: LAWYER OF 10 US BAPTIST RESIGNS

Relatives of the Baptists claimed that he had asked them for money so that he could bribe the judge. And so far they had not paid him his fee. The suspects are a group of US Baptists who planned to bring 33 Haitian children aged 2 months to 14 years out of Haiti after the earthquake - but without permission to do so.

 

 

MISSING FILIPINA IN HAITI FOUND DEAD UNDER RUBBLE

 

(02/08/2010 | 03:38 PM )

 

A Filipino woman reported missing in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated Haiti last January 12 was confirmed dead after her body was found over the weekend.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Monday the remains of Mary Grace Fabian were pulled out of the collapsed Caribbean Supermarket at about midnight Sunday (Manila time).

 

"Ms. Fabian, an employee of the Caribbean supermarket, was identified through her uniform, hair and necklace," the DFA said on its website.

 

Citing a report from Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, Commander of the 10th Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent, the DFA said the Central National Equipment Retrieval team, assisted by some members of the Philippine contingent headed by Corporal Eric Dedales and Senior Navy Officer I Carlo Dangcalan, recovered Fabian's remains.

 

It said Lowel Lalican, husband of Geraldine Lalican, identified the body. Geraldine is still believed trapped under the rubble of the supermarket.

 

Fabian's sister Rosalyn decided to immediately bury Grace’s remains at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince.

 

The Philippine contingent in Haiti is currently securing the Caribbean Supermarket area and is continuing recovery efforts for Lalican.

 

Philippine Honorary Consul to Haiti Fitzgerald Brandt is supervising the recovery efforts.

 

On Friday last week, the DFA welcomed the fifth batch of 32 Filipinos repatriated from Haiti. At least 63 Filipinos have been repatriated.

 

- KBK, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 9 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 9 FEBRUARY 2010

 

OHIO STRIP CLUB HOSTS 'LAP DANCES FOR HAITI'

 

(02/09/2010 | 09:52 AM - GMA news.TV)

 

TOLEDO, Ohio – A strip club in Ohio has raised $1,000 for Haitian earthquake relief during what was billed as "Lap dances for Haiti." Marilyn's on Monroe in Toledo donated the $10 cover charges collected Saturday to ISOH (I-S-O-H)/IMPACT, an organization based in suburban Perrysburg that provides food and clothing for Haiti.

 

Marilyn's general manager Kenny Soprano says his establishment had been looking for a reason to hold a charity fundraiser even before the quake, as a way to improve its image. He says you don't hear much about strip clubs giving back to the community.

 

ISOH/IMPACT CEO Linda Greene doesn't have a problem with where the money came from. She says her group appreciates any donations to help Haiti.

- AP

 

 

SOME HAITIAN HOSPITALS CHARGING PATIENTS - UN

 

(02/09/2010 | 11:41 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United Nations warned Monday that it will cut off shipments of free medicine to Haitian hospitals that charge patients, saying it had learned some are levying fees for drugs.

 

When the catastrophic earthquake struck Jan. 12, authorities immediately decided to make all medical care free. More than 200 international medical relief groups have sent teams to help, and millions of dollars of donated medicine has been flown in.

 

UN officials told The Associated Press they had information that about a dozen hospitals — both public and private — had begun charging patients for medicine.

 

The officials said they could not immediately provide the names of the hospitals but said they were in several parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince.

 

"The money is huge," said Christophe Rerat of the Pan American Health Organization, the UN health agency in the region. He said about $1 million worth of drugs have been sent from UN warehouses alone to Haitian hospitals in the past three weeks.

 

Hospitals don't need to charge patients to pay their staff, because Haitian Health Ministry employees are getting paid with donated money, Rerat added.

 

UN officials said that beginning now, any hospital found levying fees for medicine will be cut off.

 

But they added the UN would consider continuing to supply non-governmental groups working at private hospitals hit with embargoes if the NGO can make a convincing case that none of the people it is treating are being charged.

 

A member of the special Haitian government commission created to deal with the post-quake medical crisis, Dr. Jean Hugues Henry, said he had no knowledge of any hospitals charging for services or medicine.

 

"Tomorrow, we will clarify that the government never gave anyone permission to charge for medicine and services," he said.

 

Haiti now has about 90 hospitals, including public and private hospitals and field hospitals set up in the quake's aftermath.

- AP

 

Danish DR1 Text: HAITIAN HOSPITALS CHARGING PATIENTS FOR MEDICINE

 

Several hospitals and clinics in Haiti have charged patients for treatment and medicine. If it doesn't stop immediately, the UN will discontinue supply of free medicine to the hospitals in question according to a spokesman for UN's health organization.

The abuse has been noted both in Haiti and outside of the capital. Immediately after the devastating earthquake on 12 January the authorities in Haiti decided to suspend all payments for treatment. Currently about 90 hospitals, clinics and field hospitals are treating the earthquake victims.

 

 

SOUTH KOREA TO SEND 240 TROOPS TO HAITI TO REBUILD

 

(02/09/2010 | 03:41 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's parliament has approved a plan to send 240 troops to Haiti to help rebuild the Caribbean nation hit by a devastating earthquake.

 

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the South Korean troops, mostly engineers, will provide HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE to and rebuild areas in Leogane, just west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

Haiti's catastrophic earthquake last month killed an estimated 200,000 people and left as many as 3 million in need of food, shelter and medicine.

 

The parliamentary approval came some 20 days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to increase the UN's Haitian mission by 2,000 troops and 1,500 police officers.

 

The ministry said the South Korean troops will be deployed later this month.

- AP

 

 

Danish DR1: A HAITIAN SURVIVING 28 DAYS IN THE RUINS?

 

A young Haitian may have been rescued out of the rubble in Port-au-Prince 28 days after the devastating earthquake. Family members of the 28-year-old Haitian say that they haven't seen him since the earthquake on 12 January. No eye witness accounts of the rescue of the man or the like that may throw light on his fate. - Doctors say that his state suggests that he has been trapped for a long time and that it is unusual, but not impossible. A brother of the 28-year-old Haitian says that someone gave his brother water during the long time of being trapped.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 10 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 10 FEBRUARY 2010

 

HAITI RAISES EARTHQUAKE's DEATH TOLL TO 230,000

 

(02/10/2010 | 09:10 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti's government has raised the death toll for the Jan. 12 earthquake to 230,000 from 212,000 and says more bodies remain uncounted.

 

The government initially estimated 150,000 dead on Jan. 24, apparently from bodies being recovered in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince, the capital that was near the epicenter.

 

Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said Tuesday the government now counts 230,000 deaths.

 

But she says the new figure is not definitive. She says it does not include bodies buried by private funeral homes in private cemeteries or the dead buried by their own families.

 

The new figure gives the quake the same death toll as the 2004 Asian tsunami. - AP

 

 

REMAINS OF PINAY WORKER KILLED IN HAITI QUAKE TO BE REPATRIATED

 

(2/10/2010 | 10:05 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

The remains of a woman overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who died in the magnitude-7 quake that devastated Haiti last January 12 will be repatriated upon her family's request, a Philippine official said.

 

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said the family of Mary Grace Fabian requested on Tuesday that her remains be brought home.

 

"The DFA is now coordinating with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and her family so that we can bring home the remains of Mary Grace Fabian to her family as soon as possible. We would like to honor the family's request to have her home," Conejos said in an article on the DFA Website.

 

Earlier, Fabian's Haiti-based sister Rosalyn asked that her body be immediately buried in Haiti after it was recovered in the rubble. Fabian's body was recovered last February 7 beneath the rubble of the Caribbean Supermarket in Haiti.

 

Lowel Lalican, the husband of Geraldine Lalican, another OFW still trapped under the rubble of the supermarket, identified the body. An employee of the Caribbean Supermarket also identified Fabian through her uniform, hair and necklace.

 

Fabian's sister Rosalyn decided to immediately bury her remains at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince.

 

Meanwhile, the DFA said the Philippine contingent in Haiti is continuing recovery efforts for Lalican in the Caribbean Supermarket area.

Philippine Honorary Consul to Haiti Fitzgerald Brandt is supervising the recovery efforts.

 

On February 2, the remains of three Filipino United Nations peacekeepers and a Filipino UN staff member, who were also killed in the Haiti quake, arrived in Manila. The three were DP3 Perlie Panangui, Sgt. Janice Arocena, and Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez Jr.; and UN staff member Jerome Yap.

 

- LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV

 

 

DOCTOR: VENDOR MAY HAVE BEEN IN HAITI RUBBLE FOR 27 DAYS

 

(2/10/2010 | 11:24 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A rice vendor may have lived under the rubble of a flea market for 27 days with little more than water and possibly fruit, a doctor said Tuesday, in what would be a dramatic tale of survival four weeks after Haiti's devastating earthquake.

 

The man's account could not be independently confirmed, however, and the doctor conceded medical workers were skeptical at first, but he said they began to believe the man when he regained consciousness and told his story.

 

The nab said he had just finished selling rice for the day at a downtown flea market when quake struck Jan. 12. He said he didn't suffer any major injuries and was trapped on his side in an area where food and drink vendors were selling their goods.

 

"Based on that (his story), we believe him," said Dr. Dushyantha Jayaweera, a physician at the University of Miami Medishare field hospital where hundreds of patients have been treated since the quake.

 

Doctors said two men first took the vendor — identified as Evans Monsigrace — to a Salvation Army medical center in Port-au-Prince on Monday and he was then taken to the University of Miami hospital because of his critical condition. The men who brought him also said he had been trapped under the debris since the disaster.

 

The patient was suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition, but health care workers expressed skepticism about his story when some of his lab work came back relatively normal, Jayaweera said. Then the man regained consciousness and was lucid enough to recount a tale that seems plausible, the doctor said.

 

Still, doctors at the field hospital or at a Salvation Army medical center had no way to confirm the story.

 

The last confirmed survivor found in Haiti was a 16-year-old girl removed from rubble by a French rescue team 15 days after the quake. Doctors said at the time that disaster survivors may be able to sustain themselves with a water supply and without medical attention for up to two weeks.

 

Nery Ynclan, a University of Miami media officer in Haiti, said the rice vendor was in stable condition Tuesday and being treated for dehydration and malnutrition.

 

"Someone could not survive 28 days without water," Ynclan said of the frail 28-year-old man whose legs are rail thin. "You can go nine weeks without food."

 

Jayaweera said the man originally claimed that he had not had any water or food. The man, however, had a normal kidney function with heart palpitations, suggesting he drank at least some water but not enough to avoid getting dehydrated, the doctor said.

 

"He came in delirious, asking to die," Ynclan said, noting Creole translators were at the field hospital.

 

"He's still out of it. He answers basic questions," she said, adding he was nibbling on chocolate and probably would be at the field hospital for a week.

 

The man's mother, who was at the field hospital, told workers that people clearing rubble from downtown discovered him and alerted his brothers.

 

A videotape shot by Michael Andrew, an Arizona-based freelance photographer and a volunteer at the Salvation Army medical center, shows doctors on Monday trying without success to insert a needle into the man's arm to give him fluid. Doctors there then referred the man to the field hospital at the airport, Andrew told The Associated Press.

 

Andrew said the man was delirious and identified himself through an interpreter as Evans Muncie, 28. The Salvation Army, in a brief posting on its Web site, identified him Tuesday as Evan Ocinia.

 

That posting says the two men, whom it didn't identify, found the man in the debris of the market Monday. But Andrew said Tuesday it wasn't clear whether others had provided food and water to the man and that many details of the case had yet to be learned.

 

It also wasn't known why teams of international search and rescue workers were not alerted to the man's reported circumstances in the wrecked market.

 

The Haiti quake killed 230,000 people, the Haitian government said Tuesday.

- AP

 

 

ANGELINA JOLIE VISITS HAITI WITH UN REFUGEE BODY

 

(02/10/2010 | 09:30 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Angelina Jolie began two days of meetings with Haiti earthquake victims Tuesday in her role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency.

 

The actress, representing the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, met with U.N. officials in Port-au-Prince and visited an SOS Villages camp for orphans outside the capital, where she was cheered by Haitians yelling, "Angie! Angie!"

 

That same camp took care of 33 Haitian children after a U.S.-based Baptist group was arrested at the Dominican border trying to take the kids out of the country. It wasn't known if Jolie spoke with any of the children, and journalists were kept at a distance throughout her visit.

 

The American missionaries have been accused of trying to take the children out of Haiti without proper documentation. The group says it was heading to a Dominican orphanage following Haiti's quake and had only good intentions.

 

Jolie also toured a Doctors Without Borders hospital in a Port-au-Prince suburb, waving to onlookers. She and husband Brad Pitt have contributed $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for its emergency medical operations in Haiti.

 

Jolie was meeting with Haitians employed in quake debris cleanup through a joint U.N.-U.S. Agency for International Development program before spending the night at a Brazilian military camp outside the city.

 

On Wednesday, Jolie planned to visit the southern city of Jacmel, a camp for people made homeless by the quake, as well as a Save the Children relief supply center before returning to Port-au-Prince and leaving for the neighboring Dominican Republic.

 

Jolie has previously visited Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan and other countries with UNHCR. - AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia and Haiti

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 11 FEBRUARY 2010

 

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8511252.stm) - source of all the articles below

 

HAITI JUDGE RECOMMENDS FREEING US MISSIONARIES

 

A judge has recommended that 10 US missionaries detained in Haiti for alleged child smuggling should be freed while the case is investigated.

 

The five men and five women, most of them from Idaho, have been charged with

child abduction and criminal conspiracy.

 

They deny allegations that they tried to smuggle 33 children across the border to the Dominican Republic.

 

The group said they were taking the children to an orphanage.

 

But it has since emerged that some of the youngsters' parents are still alive, and many came from the same village.

 

The children, who are from aged from two to 12, are now in the care of the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in Port-au-Prince.

 

 

HAITI QUAKE TOLL RISES TO 230,000

 

SHATTERED CITY

 

CORRUPTION FEARS STALK HAITI AFTER THE QUAKE

 

By Nick Davis, BBC News, Port-au-prince - last updated at 01:17 GMT, Sunday, 7 February 2010

 

The international community has pledged to assist Haiti with billions of dollars in assistance, not only to help in the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake, but also in the long-term reconstruction of the country.

 

But there are concerns that corruption could see some of the money not getting to the people, and the delays in aid deliveries are being seen by some as a sign that something clearly is not right.

 

We drive towards a camp in the centre of Port-au-Prince. Open land only has one use here, and a former Catholic school, its buildings crumbled and damaged, is now home to hundreds of people.

The playground is full of children playing football and basketball. The school fields are packed with row after row of tents and tarpaulins.

It is clear that there are no international relief agencies operating here; the smell is a sign that there is no proper sanitation.

It is just Haitians trying to survive with what little they have left. For the people who now call this home, they don't know who will help them.

"If there is a government, I haven't seen it yet. And if there is a government I would say it's the Americans, the foreigners, who came here to help," says Joseph Lolo Elda, who helps out looking after the women here.

 

Many of the people in the camp believe that because they aren't seeing the aid, it is going missing somewhere - and that someone is making money out of their misery.

 

Haiti is rated as one of the worst countries in the world for corruption by Transparency International, a monitoring group. In the group's annual ranking, Haiti came 168th out of 180 countries.

 

A combination of endemic corruption, the now non-existent institutional infrastructure, and the large amounts of money flowing into the country all make this the perfect time to commit crime.

 

GOVERNMENT 'OVERWHELMED'

Outside the judicial police headquarters, the makeshift new home of the Haitian government, there are hundreds of demonstrators chanting that they want to see the President, Rene Preval.

 

Over and over they shout: "We have no water, we have no food and nowhere to stay."

 

The administration has been conspicuous by its absence since the quake on 12 January, and this is one of a number of protests that have brought Port-au-Prince to a standstill.

The people say that they are not getting any help from those they elected.

 

Having lost thousands of civil servants and most of its buildings, Haiti's government admits it was overwhelmed trying to organise the disaster response between the UN, the international community and numerous aid agencies.

 

But with billions in aid coming into the country, the question of corruption is one it has had to address. The government says the lack of co-ordination over what is being spent where means the system is open to abuse.

 

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive says: "The problem is I don't know who is receiving aid, what they are doing with it and where it goes, but it's important that the government knows, because we will be held accountable for it.

 

"They will say: 'We gave $3m or $4m to Haiti' and they don't know what we did with it, they will say the government stole it. They say that Haiti and the government is corrupt, but what did I get to steal? Nothing has been given to me."

 

The government wants Transparency International to look at all the assistance, and says it is not receiving any money, that the only funds being spent are by the relief agencies.

 

'THEY DON'T CARE'

But that is not enough for some people.

At another camp on the outskirts of the city, there are people everywhere in what used to be a park, huddled asleep under tarpaulins, cooking up big bowls of rice while children play. There are no officials here either, but a sense of community already exists.

 

A sign saying "unisex haircuts" hangs over a makeshift barber shop made with plastic sheeting. I approach as customers inspect their new trims with a piece of broken mirror.

When I ask those waiting outside the barber shop about the government, they become very animated, and laugh when I ask about corruption.

"They don't care about us, we don't have a government," said Colas Simer, who was one passer-by who got involved in the discussion.

"If the American people want to help us, don't let the money fall in the Haitian hands. Please!"

 

The US has spent more than $750m (£500m) in Haiti over the past five years alone, with little to show for it. Despite efforts by the country's leaders, the issue of corruption is one that still has no gone away.

 

There will be an international conference in March aimed at raising more money for reconstruction, and even more money will come into the country.

 

But many here say the international community needs to help them stop the corruption that has dogged the country for years.

 

 

MIAMI MOBILISES FOR QUAKE VICTIMS

 

By Henri Astier, BBC News, Miami (5 February 2010)

 

Notre Dame d'Haiti , a Catholic church in the heart of Miami's Little Haiti, looks more like a warehouse than a place of worship these days.

Its courtyard is filled with boxes. More are piled from floor to ceiling in church annexes.

Parishioners are busy packing food, clothes and medicines donated by members of the public.

 

Notre Dame has taken a leading role channelling relief supplies to victims of last month's devastating earthquake near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

Jocelin Toussaint, one of the volunteers, is making sure the boxes are marked carefully. "This box here has clothes for boys only," he says.

"We've put small children's clothes there, adult clothes here, girls' clothes over there. So immediately when the box arrives, when they open it, they will know exactly who the clothes are for."

 

NINE RELATIVES LOST

Like many Haitian-Americans, Mr Toussaint has been personally affected by the 12 January earthquake - in which an estimated 200,000 people died.

I lost nine relatives in Port-au-Prince," he says. "The quake has affected everybody, rich and poor, and that's why we're all sticking together to help victims."

Another volunteer at Notre Dame d'Haiti, Elizabeth Desrosiers, is sorting piles of shoes into various boxes. She agrees that the bond between Haitian communities everywhere is crucial in such a time of need.

"This is important to us because we are all Haitians," she says. "What happened in Haiti could happen to all of us. It's by the grace of God that we are not in Haiti right now."

 

Notre Dame and its congregation mobilised quickly. On the day after the earthquake, a prayer service was held at the church.

Donations poured in and, within two weeks, the church had sent seven containers of supplies to Haiti. The aid is being distributed by church bodies in the ravaged capital and in camps for displaced people around the country.

 

Notre Dame also flew medical teams to the earthquake zone. As Fr Jean Jadotte explains, the relief effort is being supported by many outside Miami's 100,000-strong Haitian-American community.

 

"We have collected piles of food, water, medicines, clothes," Fr Jadotte says. "Everybody came. Not just Haitians, other ethnic groups too: Hispanics, African-Americans. We say thank you for that. We are all part of the same family, the human family."

 

FRIENDS OVERSEAS

One of the many outsiders who have come to Notre Dame to lend a hand is Debbie Benik.

A retired lawyer from Boston, she is currently spending a few weeks on holiday in Miami.

But instead of taking full advantage of the winter sun, she is spending several days a week packing tins of food, conscientiously checking the sell-by dates.

She says doing her bit for the relief effort was the natural thing to do: "I read the stories about what was going on, and about a week-and-a-half ago I came over and I said can I volunteer. And they said 'absolutely'."

Ms Benik felt that, in such an emergency, writing a cheque was not enough. "They needed manual labour, they needed people here as you can see," she says.

The aid effort does need all the hands it can get. Marleine Bastien, co-chair of Miami city's Haiti Relief Task Force , has just returned from a trip to Haiti to assess the country's needs - which she says are enormous.

 

"The situation is catastrophic," she says. "Haiti has been basically crushed. Thousands and thousands of buildings, schools, universities, hospitals have been destroyed."

 

The country, Ms Bastien says, needs more help from the diaspora and international donors.

 

But despite Haiti's desperate situation, Ms Bastien's message to the Haitian people is one of hope.

 

"Do not lose heart," she says. "We have friends overseas who are concerned by what you're going through and want to help - not just in the short term but for as long as you need help."

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in the Philippines on 11 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 11 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Isabela placed under state of calamity due to El Niño

 

(02/11/2010 | 10:20 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

The province of Isabela was placed under a state of calamity on Thursday due to the losses caused by the El Niño dry spell on the province’s agricultural produce.

 

Isabela Vice Governor Ramon Reyes said the province has been placed under a state of calamity after estimated losses in terms of rice and corn products in the province reached P1 billion due to the dry spell that has beset the area for a month now.

 

Reyes said the decision to declare a state of calamity in the area is to enable local government units of Isabela to direct more funds to address the problem.

 

The Isabela provincial government likewise vowed to provide subsidies to rice and corn farmers affected by the El Niño through the National Food Authority (NFA).

 

The state weather bureau had earlier announced that the El Niño phenomenon will cause long dry spells throughout the country during the first half of the year. (See: Pagasa: El Niño to affect RP climate till June; Capiz under drought)

 

According to Wikipedia, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, often called simply ENSO, is a climate pattern that affects the tropical Pacific Ocean over a period that varies from three to seven years, and is best-known for being associated with floods, droughts and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world.

 

Malacañang meanwhile assured Isabela officials that the national government would extend all forms of assistance to the province.

 

“Government agencies will continue to assist especially through revitalized El Nino Task Force under Department of Agriculture," Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reactivated last month the El Niño Task Force in preparation for the abnormally dry season that is expected to cause billion-peso agricultural losses this year. (See: Arroyo reactivates El Niño Task Force). —Andreo Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV

 

Other related headlines:

 

RP may import more rice due to El Niño

 

Energy dep't monitoring hydro plants as El Niño looms

 

Gov't sets aside P1.7B to offset El Niño losses

 

Bare El Niño domestic water contingency plan, group tells Malacañang

 

Arroyo reactivates El Niño Task Force

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti / news from 12 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 12 FEBRUARY 2010

 

LEOGANE: HAITI's 'NEGLECTED' QUAKE-HIT TOWN

 

By Christian Fraser, BBC News, Leogane, Haiti

 

THE MOUNTAIN OF ROCK THAT DOMINATES THE MAIN SQUARE IN LEOGANE WAS ONCE A CATHEDRAL.

It surrounds an altar that is still intact. Next door stand the remains of the funeral home decorated with brightly coloured washing. The line is tied between two broken pillars. A snapshot of normality where life is anything but.

 

At the epicentre of the Haitian earthquake, 90% of the buildings are destroyed, a quarter of the town's population is dead or missing. And those who escaped are still fighting to survive.

 

"It is still working too slowly," says Mayor Santos Alexis.

"Leogane has been neglected. They can't even feed the people in Port-au-Prince - what hope is there for us.

 

"We tell them [aid agencies] what they need. But then co-ordinating staff rotate, and we have to explain it again. We need control on the ground. We know who needs feeding, where the priorities lie, but at the moment my hands are tied," the mayor says.

 

NO TENTS

The truly striking thing about the past month is how much Haitians have helped themselves.

In Leogane, there are three camps with thousands of new homes built from salvaged wood and sheet metal.

There is debate on whether, in the short to medium term, these SHANTY TOWNS are a good thing for Haiti. Most would say they are not - but the people say they are the only place where they have a chance of receiving the food and water they need.

No-one is distributing supplies to those families who have stayed by their homes.

In the football stadium, there is no sign of the tents or tarpaulins they need.

Rosmata Tevel and her nine children are living beneath bed sheets in 10 sq m

(108 sq ft), with one bed and on borrowed rice from her neighbours. They can't afford the corrugated iron to build a shelter - it's about $7 (£4) a sheet. But they know they need to find better cover.

 

There's a hard deadline just round the corner. "The rains will come in May," Mrs Tevel says. "We will be flooded in here, but I have nowhere else to take them."

 

In the camps it is paper coupons that are the new currency. Families hide them; soldiers guard them; the mayor would certainly like control of them.

For 2,500 women who queued for a food drop, the little scraps of paper were like diamonds. We counted at least four women who had forged them.

"This is the only way to do it," says Eberhard Hallbach, a co-coordinator with the German aid agency GTZ.

 

"We can't drop food without soldiers. And it has to be tightly controlled. There are so many desperate people."

First to get her box was 19-year-old Chlesland, who is seven-months pregnant. She had waited five hours in the baking sun for her food.

Her box contained flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil and beans. Welcome relief, but it will feed her family for only four days. "We have had just two deliveries here since the earthquake," she says. "We eat when we can."

 

Facts on the ground speak volumes of the UN chain of command. "We know it's not enough," says Mr Hallbach. "We do what we can. "It is getting better. But we all have to recognise that HAITI IS IN A STATE OF SHOCK and there is colossal amounts of work to do," he adds.

 

'LUXURY'

Four weeks on, it is still the smaller agencies like his which have formed their own alliances and are driving the operation in Leogane.

The priorities for the UN are still in Port-au-Prince, which is an hour's drive away.

But it is little comfort to Chlesland - in two months' time she will have to provide for another mouth.

The Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital is delivering babies every day - 16 this week - to women who can barely feed themselves.

But at least they now have somewhere to go and give birth safely. And the MSF provides more than just a field hospital. They have showers and toilets, a luxury the majority of Haitians go without.

"It is true the demands are huge," says Pier Luigi Testa, MSF's emergency co-ordinator.

"But at least IN HEALTH we are making some PROGRESS. In Leogane, we are moving to secondary care. This week we have had 2,000 consultations, 176 surgeries, six skin grafts, we have even provided consultations for 103 mental patients."

And in the next week they plan to build another 1,300 sq m (14,000 sq ft) of hospital for 150 new patients.

 

For now the major UN agencies are conspicuous by their absence.

Haitians are resilient but they can only do so much. They need all the help that's been promised and they hope that at least some shelter arrives before the rains.

For now, families do what they can but their future comes one day at a time.

 

 

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

 

Telegraph: Haiti holds national day of mourning

 

Times Online: One month on, Haiti pauses to mourn the dead

 

Washington Post: Haitians hold day of mourning on quake anniversary

 

ABC News: Haitians Hold Day of Mourning on Quake Anniversay

 

Sky News: X Factor Star's Plan To Help Haiti Children

 

 

HAITI WILL NOT DIE, PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL INSISTS

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8511997.stm - updated at 17:41 GMT, Friday, 12 February 2010

 

Haiti's President Rene Preval has vowed that his country will live on, during a day of national mourning held a month after the earthquake struck. He spoke at an emotional ceremony in the capital Port-au-Prince, near the ruins of the National Palace.

 

"Haiti will not die, Haiti must not die," he told mourners.

 

At least 217,000 people died in the 12 January devastating earthquake, which also left about 300,000 injured and one million homeless.

 

Representatives from Haiti's two official religions - a Catholic bishop and the head of the Voodoo priests, both robed in white - joined ministers from Protestant denominations for the main prayer service in central Port-au-Prince.

Hundreds of people gathered for the service in the shade of mimosa trees. President Preval wept during the service, and was comforted by his wife.

Other prayer services were held across the country, including one at the site of a mass grave outside the capital which is believed to hold tens of thousands of victims.

Later, at the exact time the earthquake hit, 1653 local time (2153 GMT), Haitians at home and abroad will be asked to kneel and pray.

The Associated Press news agency reports that the remaining churches in Port-au-Prince's Petionville suburb were so packed that loudspeakers had to be set up so those left outside in the streets could follow the service.

"All families were affected by this tragedy and we are celebrating the memory of the people we lost," one mourner, Desire Joseph Dorsaintvil, told AP.

 

RAIN THREAT

The BBC's Mike Wooldridge says the act of national reflection comes as one of the largest humanitarian operations ever mounted grapples with challenges on many fronts.

He says a heavy downpour on the eve of the anniversary provided a foretaste of the misery that lies ahead for the many people who still have only the flimsiest shelter in impromptu camps, if the pace of getting out more tents and stronger shelter materials is not stepped up before the start of the rainy season.

In the biggest of the camps that sprang up in the capital after the earthquake, people are still living under sheeting strung across wooden poles.

The government says the seasonal rains could be the biggest threat now to the nation's attempts at recovery.

 

The European Union has proposed a military mission to step up the provision of shelter before the rains worsen.

 

This week's Haitian government figures suggesting up to 230,000 dead means the quake toll is approaching that of the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed 250,000 people.

 

 

HISTORY:

 

Magnitude seven quake strikes south-west of Port-au-Prince at 1653 local time (2153 GMT), 12 January

 

Government now reports between 217,000 and 230,000 dead, 300,000 injured

 

About three million affected, one million homeless, 250,000 homes destroyed

 

Quake sparks massive international aid effort - more than $500m (£320m) donated from US

 

UN says 53 million tonnes of rubble must be removed

 

 

US HAS ASSIGNED 13,000 MILITARY PERSONNEL

 

By Mike Wooldridge, BBC News, Titanyen

 

Amid scrub-covered hills to the north of Port-au-Prince, some 50 worshippers led by a Haitian bishop celebrated mass on the graves where tens of thousands of the earthquake victims lie buried.

A small wooden table atop one of the mass graves in the scrub-covered low hills served as the altar.

Swinging incense above the graves and sprinkling water on them, the bishop said he aimed to give dignity to their hasty burial.

"Tend to your brothers and sisters, calling out from under the ground," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFTER 1 MONTH OF CHAOS, HAITIANS HELP THEMSELVES

 

(02/12/2010 | 10:36 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — In the month since the worst disaster in Haitian history, an enormous international aid effort has not provided the people of the Marassa 14 neighborhood with the food, shelter and security they need. So they built a new community from scratch.

 

Cardboard street signs mark the rows of makeshift plastic tents where more than 2,500 people sleep in the dirt. Handwritten ID cards stamped by a security committee show who belongs, and women serve cheap fried plantains and breadfruit for families struggling to feed their children.

 

One month after 40 seconds of terrifying shaking killed more than 200,000 of their relatives and neighbors and leveled most of their capital, Haiti's endlessly resilient people are struggling to recreate their lives.

 

Food has yet to reach all of the 3 million people who need it. Infrastructure problems and supply backlogs continue to hamper an international aid effort that has drawn $537 million from the United States alone. Schools remain closed. And on Thursday morning, in a taste of the new horrors the impending rainy season promises to bring, an early morning downpour muddied the dirt in which 1.2 million people have pitched makeshift camp.

 

Downtown, hundreds of Haitians marched Thursday from the destroyed National Palace to the temporary government headquarters demanding the resignation of President Rene Preval, who has been largely out of sight since the catastrophe. He appeared Wednesday to bicker publicly with his own communications minister over the death toll.

 

Amid the chaos and unmet needs, there are obvious signs of progress: The UNITED NATIONS, itself devastated by the quake, has established a TENT-and-TRAILER CITY on the airport grounds to coordinate the efforts of 900 aid agencies who finally appear to be overcoming huge problems with communications, transportation and infrastructure.

 

Cell phone coverage has vastly improved. Gas stations have reopened — though that has also meant traffic is back to its normal, intolerable state. Massive amounts of rubble are still everywhere — loaded into dump trucks, the convoy would stretch from Port-au-Prince to Moscow, officials said — but at least it has been pushed to the side of the road.

 

And while handwritten signs still plead for foreign help, opportunistic vendors are back on the streets, selling miniature American flags as soldiers' wide desert-camouflage Humvees roll by. The once ubiquitous dead, and their overpowering smell, have largely been carried away.

 

But even though top foreign and Haitian officials say immediate needs are being met, in villages like Marassa — a district whose name means "twins" in Creole — children are going unfed and families are competing for disgraceful shelter they know will not hold up for long.

In such communities, people are looking out for themselves.

 

In Marassa, people have made their homes in a dry riverbed that constantly floods in the rainy season. Before dawn Thursday, a surprise downpour soaked everyone's few belongings, rendered their cooking charcoal unusable and coated their beds in mud.

 

"We're living in a hole," said Dieusin St. Vil, a 46-year-old tailor who heads the new neighborhood's security committee. "We heard on the radio that the government was supposed to build tent cities around here, but they haven't come by."

 

That's because, unbeknownst to the people of Marassa, those plans have changed. On Wednesday, with just 49,000 of a requested 200,000 tents provided, officials announced that deliveries will stop. Foreign governments, aid groups and Haitian officials have decided that tents take up too much space and will not last long enough.

 

"Tents are great, they're a lot better than nothing, but they basically impede the process of economic development and reconstruction," said Lewis Lucke, the US Special Coordinator for Relief and Reconstruction.

 

Instead, 250,000 families will get one sheet of plastic each between now and May 1, and will later receive temporary, earthquake-resistant structures of metal and wood. If those numbers hold up, they will help about 60 percent of the population in need.

 

The European Union, criticized for its slow response to Haiti's earthquake, said Thursday it will mount a MILITARY OPERATION TO BRING STRONG SHELTERS TO HAITI that can withstand the Caribbean's HEAVY RAINS and HURRICANES.

 

In the meantime, there's not enough space, even in the riverbed that is Marassa — and the self-appointed leaders decided to split their sprawling community into two camps.

 

In the western half, members of St. Vil's security committee patrol with sticks and make sure residents produce ID tickets that match numbers written in no obvious order on their tents.

 

The eastern half is similarly organized by a different committee.

 

An abandoned grandmother named Dieudonne Bernard kept getting her tarps stolen, so the security committee on the western side told her to move into the hollowed-out wooden trailer of a junked tap-tap, as Haiti's colorful buses are known.

 

Since she can't get to one of the 16 fixed UN food distribution sites, the 87-year-old woman eats only if relatives bring her rice or a neighbor snags a high-energy biscuit from a handout meant for children.

 

Even when FOOD AID does arrive in the village — as did 2,000 hot meals of rice and beans from a Dominican Republic government agency Thursday afternoon — those without the right connections risk not getting any.

 

"Even if the government says they are going to help everyone, everyone isn't going to get help," said the Rev. Moise Farfan, who holds prayer meetings amid the tents of Marassa every night because his church collapsed in the earthquake.

 

Nearby, an earthquake widow sold fried bits of potato, breadfruit and plantain from her tent, charging whatever her neighbors had in their pockets.

 

St. Vil appeared with a scowl, furious that it would keep them from receiving food.

 

"The journalists are blocking the aid!" he bellowed as a heated argument broke out among residents.

 

His concerns are not entirely unfounded. When pleading for aid it is much easier to speak in absolutes than to explain the much more complex reality: There is FOOD IN HAITI, but especially following the earthquake it has grown INCREASINGLY EXPENSIVE and HARD TO GET./COLOR]

 

The price of heavily subsidized imported rice — already at levels that caused rioting in April 2008 — has shot up 25 percent since the earthquake to $3.71 a 2.7-kilo (6-pound) bag, according to USAID. Corn is up more than 25 percent, wheat increased by half. Charcoal, needed for cooking, has shot up 17 percent.

 

With no jobs or homes, and nowhere to go, help from others — and each other — means everything.

 

"The conditions here are no good, but being dead is even worse," said Johnny Joseph, a 48-year-old father of six. "As long as you're living, you might have a friend who's alive too. - AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 13 FEBRUARY

 

I haven't looked at today's news, because I have been busy elsewhere (in relation to the coldplayer meet-up in London in July).

 

2 articles from 12/2:

 

DR1 Text 12/2:

BOAT REFUGEES RETURNED TO HAITI

78 Haitian boat refugees have been sailed back to Haiti by the US Coast Guard. The refugees were taken to Cap Haitian on the North Coast. Last Saturday they were stopped near Bahamas on the way to the USA in an overcrowded cargoboat using sail.

 

The USA and the other Caribbean states have increased patrolling since the earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010 which might lead to an increase in the number of Haitian refugees. According to the news agency AP, the American authorities have seen no indication of more Haitians trying to make the dangerous trip.

 

 

DR1 Text 12/2:

MONEY COLLECTED ON THE WAY TO HAITI.

The Haitian earthquake victims will soon - and sooner than normal - benefit from the money collected at Denmark's big televised annual collection of money in favour of African women and HAITI. The Danes donated the record-high amount of Danish kroner 130 million, and DKK 45 million hereof is on the way to Haiti.

TDC, the largest telecom corporation in Denmark, has at once paid the amount of DKK 15 million. The remainder comes from payments by credit card (Dankort). It takes some time for payments made via online donations to "be capitalized", and people have to pay their telephone subscriptions before we get the money from SMS's / Small text messages and phone calls - according to TDC project manager Stig Fog.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti / articles from 13 and 14 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON THE 13 AND 14 FEBRUARY 2010

 

'We Are the World' debuts, worldwide airing set

 

(02/13/2010 | 01:53 PM - GMA News.TV)LOS ANGELES –

 

The revamped "We Are the World" made its world premiere Friday during NBC's coverage of the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, and a simultaneous worldwide screening of the full, seven-minute version of the music video is planned for Saturday.

 

The worldwide simulcast on 53 domestic and international channels is planned for 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) Eastern time.

 

A three-minute version of the video aired Friday. Filmed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, the video shows images of devastation from the island nation after the January 12 earthquake that has claimed more than 200,000 lives.

 

It also shows some of the 85 artists who gathered in Los Angeles earlier this month to re-record the 1985 charity anthem.

 

Teen sensation Justin Bieber opens the song. Also featured are Jennifer Hudson and Nicole Scherzinger, Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Fergie. Josh Groban, LL Cool J, Nick Jonas, Lil Wayne (and his auto-tune), Jeff Bridges, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus and Haitian-American singer Wyclef Jean also get screen time.

 

Michael Jackson, who co-wrote the original hit with Lionel Richie, is shown in a clip from the original music video. In the new version, Jackson, wearing his trademark 1980s pseudomilitary regalia, sings alongside his sister, Janet Jackson.

 

Richie and fellow producer Quincy Jones introduced the song Friday via video, saying money raised by its sales will provide food, shelter and medicine for the Haitian people.

 

Fans can download "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" online now. All proceeds will benefit earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti.

- AP

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8515255.stm

 

Page last updated at 19:00 GMT, Sunday, 14 February 2010

 

Haiti charity single tops UK chart

 

Hurts music video

 

Everybody Hurts, recorded to help Haiti's earthquake victims, has sold more than 453,000 copies in its first week to go straight to number one.

 

The record has notched up the biggest first week sales of any charity track this century, the Official UK Charts Company (OCC) has confirmed.

 

The REM cover features a host of stars including Leona Lewis, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Take That.

 

The recording of the Helping Haiti song was organised by Simon Cowell.

 

'Huge record'

 

Proceeds will be split between the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and The Sun newspaper's Helping Haiti campaign.

 

The song moves ahead of The X Factor Finalist's version of Hero as the charity song selling the most copies in its first week of release since 2000.

Westlife's Uptown Girl, released in aid of Comic Relief, falls back to third place.

The OCC's Martin Talbot said: "The public have clearly taken the plight of the Haitian people to heart - this record is huge."

 

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo added: "It's already the biggest seller of the year so far, and is now likely to go on to be the number one single of 2010."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8510900.stm

 

Page last updated at 13:07 GMT, Sunday, 14 February 2010

 

Why did so many people die in Haiti's quake?

 

By Lucy Rodgers, BBC News

 

The devastating earthquakes that hit China on 12 May 2008 (strength on Richter scale = 7.9), Italy on 6 April 2009 (strength on Richter scale = 6.3) and Haiti one month ago (strength on Richter scale = 7.0) all measured above 6.0 and took many lives. But why was the human cost so much greater for Haiti?

 

When Pete Garratt, Red Cross head of disaster relief, received an alert on 12 January indicating a large quake had hit Haiti near its capital Port-au-Prince, he instantly recognised the seriousness of the emergency.

"I knew that meant deaths and injuries," he says.

 

The reason he predicted the effects of the quake would be so grave, Mr Garratt explains, is that there are a number of critical factors, learned through years of experience, that contribute to the scale of devastation following such big shifts of the earth's crust.

 

One is, perhaps obviously, the size of the quake, but also how near it is to the surface, the density of the population near its epicentre, as well as whether there are any heavily urbanised areas nearby. These all indicate a higher death toll - and were all features of the Haiti quake.

 

Number of deaths, injuries and homeless in China, Italy and Haiti:

China: 87,476 deaths; 360,000 injuried and 1.5 million homeless

Italy: 295 deaths, 2,000 injuried and 0.24 million homeless

Haiti: 230,000 deaths *), 300,000 injuried and 5 million homeless.

*) estimated. Source: EM-DAT, Red Cross, Chinese government, Haitian Government, EERI

 

But poverty also plays its role, Mr Garratt explains, as it exacerbates a country's or region's vulnerability to such disasters.

 

In places such as Haiti, where 72.1% of the population live on less than $2 a day, and in cities like Port-au-Prince, where many are housed in poor and densely-packed shantytowns and badly-constructed buildings, the devastation is always expected to be greater.

 

"These countries have less money to put into buildings and there is less governance ensuring building codes are followed," Mr Garratt explains.

"Corruption can also be an issue, and so even when there are government structures to ensure building codes are followed, there are bribes that enable people to take short cuts.

 

"Put simply - there are the technical elements of the earthquake and then the social elements on top of that."

 

Therefore, the fact that the Haiti quake hit close to a poorly-constructed, large urban area was crucial in reducing people's chances of survival.

 

In China 1 in every 595 affected died.

In Italy 1 in every 190 affected died.

In China 1 in every 15 affected died.

Source: EM-DAT; UN, Haitian government.

 

"In Italy it was one town, and a few surrounding villages - not a large urban area. And in China, although it affected a large area and big towns, it was not a city," says Mr Garratt.

"In Haiti, in a big city like Port-au-Prince, with so many structures coming down, this means more rubble will kill more people."

The resulting scale of destruction - of infrastructure, of government and other official organisations - also made it much more difficult to respond once the earthquake hit and had an impact on the number of people rescued from the rubble.

 

Number of people rescued

China 66,649, Italy 150 and in Haiti 211 (estimated)

Source: UN, Italian government, chinese government.

 

1 in every 690 affected rescued in China

1 in every 373 affected rescued in Italy

1 in every 16,588 affected rescued in Haiti

Source: UN, Italian government, chinese government and EM-DAT.

 

Haiti, unlike China and Italy, simply did not have the resources to act quickly, and it took time to get outside help in.

 

"The Chinese government was able to mobilise a very military response. Although some parts were hard to reach initially," says Mr Garratt. "The resources they had were very impressive.

 

"The problem in Haiti was the airport was only half-functioning and you had one road route that took a day to traverse."

 

The dense urban environment in Port-au-Prince also made it a difficult place for rescue teams to work once they were there, he says. "You could say that the resulting congestion in large cities meant there was less room for manoeuvre.

 

"But there were an enormous number of search and rescue teams there and considering the difficulties getting there, they did a good job."

 

However, the statistics on rescues may not necessarily reflect the true number of victims freed in and around Port-au-Prince, he warns. "The majority of people are pulled out of the rubble by their neighbours."

 

LESSONS LEARNED

The Red Cross, which had teams dealing with the aftermath of the China, Italy and Haiti earthquakes, believes aid agencies learn lessons from every disaster, although each - like Haiti - poses fresh questions.

"We are always getting better," says Mr Garratt. "But what is a challenge is that there is always something new."

One of the problems in Port-au-Prince is the lack of space, he adds, as well as a constantly shifting and mobile population.

The task now for such organisations is to help the people of Haiti get back on their feet, given the inevitable crippling economic cost of such a quake.

 

Economic cost ($b billions)

China: 85 billion, Italy 2.5 billion and Haiti estimated at several billion.

 

And as the Red Cross and others admit, their success in responding to the Haiti emergency will be judged not just on the first weeks of emergency aid, but on whether communities are left more resilient and better equipped when the next disaster strikes.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 15 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 15 FEBRUARY 2010

 

HAITI BANS CONSTRUCTION USING QUARRY SAND

 

(02/15/2010 | 09:47 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's government is banning a commonly used sand from structural construction in an attempt to improve building safety.

 

The public works ministry issued a notice Sunday warning that the use of "La Boule"-type white quarry sand to make concrete for structural elements would be punishable under Haiti's penal code and recommends using river sand. - It is not clear how the edict will be enforced.

 

Poor construction is blamed for the collapse of many buildings in the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

 

The mountains around Port-au-Prince are scarred with the white caverns left by extraction of the loose white sand. Bricks made with the poorly mixed cement are brittle and break off at the touch.

- AP

 

 

US FORCES SCALE BACK HAITI RELIEF ROLE

 

(02/15/2010 | 11:12 AM - GMA News-TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The biggest US military surge since Iraq and Afghanistan is scaling back a month after the troops arrived in haste to aid victims of Haiti's catastrophic quake.

 

Great gray ships have been leaving behind Haiti's battered shores as thousands of American troops pack up their tents. The mission, however, is far from over.

 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the US will be in Haiti for the long haul, although troop strength is down to 13,000 from a Feb. 1 peak of 20,000. Those who remain will accompany Haitians in an arduous struggle toward recovery.

 

Within a broad international relief effort, US forces have provided some of the most visible support to a nation whose government and infrastructure were nearly wiped out in less than a minute on Jan. 12.

 

They have shored up the capital's quake-damaged port to operate at several times its pre-quake tonnage, while acting as a security and logistics mainstay for UN food distributions. Military choppers have delivered life-sustaining relief to isolated villages.

 

The flow of injured quake victims to the USNS Comfort hospital ship has eased, but the need for medical facilities remains overwhelming in Port-au-Prince.

 

"We're pretty saturated. This is the chokepoint," said Air Force Maj. John Mansuy of St. Clairsville, Ohio, the operating room nurse in a tented, full-service unit with zipper doors and a positive air flow to keep out choking dust that blankets a landfill in the teeming Cite Soleil slum.

 

His medical team takes in people strapped to stretchers — with fractures, open wounds and other life-threatening maladies — before rushing them offshore to the Comfort.

 

The Haiti aid operation, costing the Pentagon $234 million and counting, has added a new strain to an already overtaxed military. About seven in 10 members of the Cite Soleil's modern-day MASH unit are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and many are scheduled to return there.

 

US Southern Command chief Gen. Douglas Fraser would not specify during a weekend visit what US troop levels would be in the coming months.

 

"Remember that the capability and the capacity the United States military brought in was for immediate relief," he told reporters.

 

The U.S. military already is turning certain tasks back over to the Haitians, such as daytime air-traffic control at Port-au-Prince's damaged international airport, where commercial flights are expected to resume by Friday.

 

The Haitians have generally greeted the Americans with warmth and appreciation, despite language barriers in the Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean nation.

 

One day at the gates of the collapsed Hotel Montana, a group of Haitian children greeted soldiers with the 82nd Airborne with a rendition of Michael Jackson's moonwalk. The soldiers replied with a moonwalk of their own. "Hey, you're good!" one of the kids shouted.

 

"No one is scared of them. They aren't aggressive, they wave hello. They have a peaceful attitude," said Jacques Michilet, 31, who lost his home and is raising two daughters in roadside shack.

 

Like many impoverished Haitians, Michilet doesn't just want the soldiers to stay: He said he wants his country taken out of the hands of its current business and political leaders and annexed by the United States.

 

US forces have not always been so welcome in their long history of intervention in Haiti.

 

A Marine-led occupation from 1915 to 1934 is widely seen among Haitians as a high water mark of US imperialism. Troops returned repeatedly, paving the way in 1994 for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to power — and then quelling widespread violence in 2004 after Aristide flew into exile aboard a US plane.

 

Critics say American perception of Haiti as an innately violent place drove the troops to focus unduly on security, at the expense of some humanitarian aid.

 

Patrick Elie, a former Haitian defense minister now helping restructure the country's dismantled security forces, said the US troops have done good but were too focused on security initially.

 

"The foreign countries that came to our aid fell victim to their own propaganda," Elie said. "They were afraid of a monster that never existed except in their own fantasies ... that Haitians are bloodthirsty savages."

 

After the disaster, there were isolated street fights and killings of looters by security guards, and some gang violence in slums driven by leaders who escaped from prison. But the capital has been largely calm and orderly as Haitians organize themselves from the ground up.

 

On Sunday, volunteers with whistles directed traffic around fallen buildings and rubble in the hard-hit Bel Air slum. Uniformed scouts routed cars around singing church parades — a toned-down substitute for this year's missed Carnival season.

 

Still, US military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said the security precautions were warranted.

 

"Desperate people do desperate things," he said. "It would be dangerous and probably counterproductive to put U.S. civilians on the ground there without military forces to ensure order."

 

A 9,000-strong Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping force has been in place since 2004 to help Haiti contain gang violence and maintain basic order.

 

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive defended the size of the American military presence when confronted by wary Haitian senators. He said the government's acceptance of the US military force boiled down to "a reality of capacity, of power, of proximity, of logistics."

 

Half of the 13,000 current US troops in Haiti are on the ground, with the others offshore on hospital boats or handling deliveries and logistics.

 

Many Haitians said they are most grateful for the US troops providing security during food distributions, a life-and-death matter for most of the 1.2 million made homeless by the quake. The US said it has helped deliver food to 160,000 people a day, but meals remain scarce and food has been diverted or stolen because of inadequate protection.

 

Far smaller contingents of Canadian, French, Italian, South Korean and Japanese troops are also in Haiti, and European Union engineering units are expected in coming weeks to help build temporary shelters.

 

But the American contingent is the one that Haitians worry about losing in their greatest time of need. Told that some US troops are leaving, 29-year-old rooster trainer Watson Geranson grew worried.

 

"Haiti needs help, we had a catastrophe," he said as a US Humvee rumbled by a new shantytown of quake refugees, where signs were posted pleading for food. "I don't see why they should go."

- AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the Situation in the Philippines and in Indonesia

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA ON 16 FEBRUARY 2010

 

4.8-MAGNITUDE QUAKE STRIKES OFF ILOCOS

 

(02/16/2010 | 05:37 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Ilocos Norte and was felt in some areas in northern Luzon Tuesday afternoon, state seismologists said.

 

The 2:49 p.m. quake was felt at Intensity II in Pasuquin town and Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, a bulletin from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

 

According to the Phivolcs, Intensity II means the quake was felt by a few individuals at rest indoors, hanging objects swing slightly, and still water in containers oscillates noticeably.

 

The quake's epicenter was traced northeast of Laoag City. No aftershocks are expected.

 

- Johanna Camille Sisante/JV, GMANews

 

 

CAGAYAN UNDER STATE OF CALAMITY DUE TO EL NIÑO

 

(2/16/2010 | 10:37 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – Cagayan province in northern Luzon has been placed under state of calamity to mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on its farmlands.

 

 

German ARD Text: EARTHQUAKE IN EAST INDONESIA

 

Tuesday morning, East Indonesia was struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, according to USGS. According to the Indonesian authorities the strenght of the earthquake was magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was 295 km north-west of Tanimbar - a group of islands - in a depth of 130 km. There is no reason to fear a tsunami, and there are no reports of injured or material damage.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 16 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 16 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Danish TV2:

 

SCHOOL COLLAPSES DUE TO HAITIAN HEAVY RAINS

3 children died when a school in North Haiti collapsed during heavy rains in the city of Cap-Haitién.

According to the Haitian authorities the heavy rains and a minor earthquake in the night to Monday may have caused the school collapse. - It is now more than a month since Haiti was struck by the devastating magnitude 7.0 (on the Richter scale) earthquake that killed more than 200,000 Haitians.

 

 

Swedish SVT text:

CHILDREN IN HAITI KILLED IN RAVAGED SCHOOL

A landslide in Northern Haiti ravaged parts of a school and killed 4 school children, while 2 children were injured. 4 days of heavy rains triggered the landslide in Cap-Haitian, said the Haitian government's spokesman on Monday. The northern part of Haiti was not much affected by the consequences of the earthquake on 12 January 2010. Cap-Haitian lies at the Atlantic coast in North Haiti about 25 miles from the destroyed capital Port-au-Prince.

 

 

Swedish SVT text:

THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS - INVESTIGATIONS INSTITUTED.

10 American baptists are charged with attempting to take Haitian children out of Haiti illegally. El Salvador has instituted an investigation in relation to the missionaries' legal adviser in Haiti who is suspected of being the leader of a sex trafficking syndicate involving children and girls from Central America and the Caribbean. The Haitian examining magistate says that the Americans will not be released until the investigations have been completed.

 

 

German ZDF Text:

HAITI: CHILDREN RESCUED FROM PRESUMED HUMAN TRAFFICKERS

5 weeks after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010, children are still being smuggled out of the poor country. This week-end 22 Haitian children were rescued by border police from the Dominican Republic. The 6 kidnappers were Haitian and have been arrested. The Haitian government fear that children whose parents might still be alive are taken out of the country.

 

 

BBC WORLD NEWS:

CANADA BUILDS HAITI GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS

The Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper announced at the start of his 2-day visit that Canada would spend Canadian $12m (£7.3m) on a temporary base after the earthquake destroyed many government offices. The base made of prefabricated modules and inflatable shelters is to house key ministeries for up to a year. CANADA is the second biggest donor to Haiti after the USA.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia and Haiti

 

FEARS OF ANOTHER QUAKE BECOME NEW HAITI BOOGEYMAN

 

(2/16/2010 | 09:00 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Hundreds of houses that survived Haiti's killer quake still stand empty even as quake victims desperate for shelter crowd the streets. The reason is fear: Nobody is quite sure they can withstand another quake.

 

At least 54 aftershocks have shuddered through Haiti's shattered capital since a Jan. 12 quake killed more than 200,000 people. They have toppled weakened buildings faster than demolition crews can get to them, sending up new clouds of choking dust. On Monday, three children were killed when a school collapsed in the northern city of Cap-Haitien. It wasn't clear what caused the collapse, which occurred after a late-night tremor and heavy rains.

 

"I tried sleeping in the house for a night, but an aftershock came and I ran outside," said Louise Lafonte, 36, who beds down with her family of five in a tent beside her seemingly intact concrete house. "I'm not going inside until the ground calms down."

 

That may be awhile. Seismologists say more, damaging aftershocks are likely and there's even a chance of another large quake following quickly after the initial catastrophe in the capital of 3 million people.

 

In 1751, a large quake hit the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. About a month later, another one destroyed Port-au-Prince.

 

A magnitude-7.4 quake that killed more than 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey in 1999 was followed three months later by another of magnitude-7.2 only 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the initial epicenter.

 

"There are many other examples like that of two significant earthquakes following each other," said Eric Calais, a geophysicist at Purdue University who said he warned the Haitian government two years ago that the country was vulnerable to a major quake.

 

The prospect of another quake is on the minds of planners trying to rebuild the country and on those trying to prevent more deaths.

 

U.N. inspectors have advised people to stay away from dozens of structures. On Jan. 26, four people were trapped when a building collapsed on them, and on Feb. 9, a magnitude-4.0 aftershock shook loose debris at a shattered supermarket, trapping several more.

 

"One of the problems with aftershocks is that lot of buildings are already damaged, so aftershocks can punch above their weight," said Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

Even Haiti's President Rene Preval is scared to sleep inside. He said he was staying with friends until he could move to an earthquake-resistant structure. Days after the quake, he said he was considering sleeping in a tent.

 

"Like you, I am nervous to be under cement," Preval said in an interview with AP Television News. "Nobody can say when exactly this fault will erupt again."

 

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his country will spend up to $12 million to build Haiti's government a temporary base to replace official buildings damaged in the quake.

 

Seismologists say Port-au-Prince was particularly vulnerable due to its population density and shoddy construction.

 

Haiti's government on Sunday banned the use of quarry sand in structures, although it is not clear how it will enforce the ban. Engineers say the limestone quarry sand produces brittle concrete easily damaged by quakes.

 

The US Geological Survey estimated at the end of January that there was a 90-percent likelihood of at least one more magnitude-5 quake in the coming month, a 15 percent likelihood of one of magnitude-6 or greater, and a 2 percent possibility of a shock as great, or bigger, than the Jan. 12 quake.

 

At least 15 of the aftershocks near the original epicenter have registered at least magnitude-5.

 

Scientists say the impact of the quake last month may spread far wider.

 

A magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck off the Cayman Islands two days after the Haiti quake. Last week, a magnitude-5.4 quake jolted eastern Cuba. And Montserrat's volcano, more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the east, shot ash some 15 kilometers (nine miles) into the sky during one of its most dramatic events since a 1997 eruption that drove away half the Caribbean island's population.

 

"These events we're seeing might be because of the passage of seismic waves — what we call dynamic triggering — that shake already damaged fault lines in places like Cuba," Calais said. "The same type of thing could be happening in Montserrat, but it's very difficult to tell."

 

Strong quakes relieve stress along fault lines, but that stress is often shifted elsewhere.

 

Last month's earthquake occurred along the east-west Enriquillo Fault, where two pieces of earth's crust slide by each other in opposite directions like a zipper. Surprisingly, aftershocks haven't clustered on the Enriquillo, but along what appears to be a previously unidentified separate fault.

 

Arthur Lerner-Lam of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York said there is a heightened risk of quakes for some time because strong temblors force the Earth to rearrange itself.

 

Estimating where a major quake may strike is an imprecise science anywhere — and especially in Haiti, which lacks seismometers and has never logged histories of temblors.

 

That sort of historical record is critical for scientists like Calais, who is advising Haiti's government and the U.N. and is trying to develop an earthquake hazard map that can be used to mitigate risks for the reconstruction effort.

 

"We're half-blind when it comes to Haiti," Calais said. - AP

 

 

HAITI PRESIDENT: 3 YEARS NEEDED TO MOVE RUBBLE

 

(02/16/2010 | 07:44 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – It will take three long years to clear the rubble left by Haiti's devastating earthquake, said President Rene Preval who admitted even he's still afraid to sleep under concrete in case another quake strikes.

 

In a rare exclusive sit-down interview, Preval told Associated Press Television News on Monday that Haiti faces a long reconstruction process that will result in fewer people living in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

"It will take 1,000 trucks moving rubble for 1,000 days, so that's three years. And until we move out rubble, we cannot really build," Preval said.

 

Sitting in the airport police station that serves as the country's temporary government headquarters, Preval calmly laid out the difficulties of rebuilding an impoverished country amid aftershocks and the threat of more earthquakes.

 

He said the government has destroyed some hastily rebuilt structures in the capital, but he said that until alternative housing plans can be completed, the government's ability to regulate reconstruction will be limited.

 

Asked about residents' assertions that local corruption has interfered with the international aid effort, he replied: "It is possible that there have been irregularities."

 

"However," he said, "I should point out that the government isn't the direct manager of most of this humanitarian assistance."

 

He referred further questions to relief organizations and local and international governments engaged in food distribution.

 

International aid groups have taken pains to at least make Haiti's government the titular head of the relief. But district mayor's offices in Port-au-Prince have been put in control of some food coupon distribution, and some irregularities have been reported.

 

The president, whose five year term is scheduled to end next year, has rarely spoken publicly with his own people in the weeks since a magnitude-7 earthquake pummeled Haiti's capital city on Jan. 12.

 

More than 200,000 people were killed. The presidential palace and his own private residence were destroyed, as were most government buildings and the headquarters of a 9,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force that guarantees his security.

 

Since then, Preval said Monday, he has been staying with friends until a "light, earthquake-proof" structure can be built to replace his home.

 

"Like you, I am nervous to be under cement," he said.

 

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday said his country will spend up to $12 million to build Haiti's government a temporary base to replace official buildings damaged in the quake.

 

Despite Haitians' desperate need for shelter, many abandoned houses that survived the quake still stand empty because nobody is quite sure they can withstand another quake.

 

At least 54 aftershocks have shuddered through Haiti's shattered capital since Jan. 12. They have toppled weakened buildings faster than demolition crews can get to them, sending up new clouds of choking dust. On Monday, three children were killed when a school collapsed in the northern city of Cap-Haitien. It wasn't clear what caused the collapse, which occurred after a late-night tremor and heavy rains.

 

"I tried sleeping in the house for a night, but an aftershock came and I ran outside," said Louise Lafonte, 36, who beds down with her family of five in a tent beside her seemingly intact concrete house. "I'm not going inside until the ground calms down."

 

That may be awhile. Seismologists say more, damaging aftershocks are likely and there's even a chance of another large quake following quickly after the initial catastrophe in the capital of 3 million people.

 

In 1751, a large quake hit the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. About a month later, another one destroyed Port-au-Prince.

 

A magnitude-7.4 quake that killed more than 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey in 1999 was followed three months later by another of magnitude-7.2 only 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the initial epicenter.

 

"There are many other examples like that of two significant earthquakes following each other," said Eric Calais, a geophysicist at Purdue University who said he warned the Haitian government two years ago that the country was vulnerable to a major quake.

 

The prospect of another quake is on the minds of planners trying to rebuild the country and on those trying to prevent more deaths.

 

U.N. inspectors have advised people to stay away from dozens of structures.

 

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated at the end of January that there was a 90-percent likelihood of at least one more magnitude-5 quake in the coming month, a 15 percent likelihood of one of magnitude-6 or greater, and a 2 percent possibility of a shock as great, or bigger, than the Jan. 12 quake. - AP

 

E-mail scams exploiting Haiti earthquake generosity (16.2.10) By Razua Iqbal, BBC News

Criminal gangs have been cashing in on the Haiti earthquake by seeking funds for bogus charities via millions of spam e-mails, a BBC investigation has learned.

The Haiti earthquake led to millions of pounds being raised to help people with next to nothing who, literally overnight, found they had even less.

But alongside genuine appeals and donations, something more sinister started to emerge.

Within days, scam e-mails began appearing on the internet. Some had what looked like logos from genuine charities.

One said it was from the British Red Cross, but was traced to a computer in Nigeria; another used the Unicef logo, but was nothing to do with them.

Our investigation focused on two e-mails. One was from a charity called Help the World, which is not registered with the Charity Commission.

There was a mobile number on the e-mail which we rang. A man responded and told us how the funds they were raising were being used.

He told us: "We are repairing the centre of the disaster in Haiti. We focus on the schools in Haiti. We have to let the children have their future back, you know without education there's no future."

None of this was true. Scam e-mails tend to list only mobile numbers, which a bona fide charity would steer clear of.

We checked with the Charity Commission, who have no record of Help the World.

However, unusually for such e-mails, there was a London address which we checked out. It turned out to be a jazz and blues bar.

A second group we investigated called itself the M E Foundation and was also not registered with the Charity Commission.

In the e-mails, a Mr David Isco Iker was said to be running the charity. I asked him how they were getting their donations and what they were using the money for.

He said: "We get mostly phone donations... mostly for food, medical supplies."

This was all also untrue. Unsolicited, the M E Foundation sent us photographs of the Haiti projects they said they were involved with.

One showed rows of white tents with a logo on each one. We discovered the camp belonged to the well established Cambridge-based charity, SOS Children.

Chief executive of SOS Children, Andrew Cates, told us the picture was one of theirs, cut and pasted from their website, and not from Haiti, but from the Pakistani earthquake a few years ago.

He said: "The problem is it's not just about exploiting a donor or a charity, really they're exploiting the victims. Because they're taking money people want to give to the victims of these natural disasters and they're stealing it.

"So I don't feel that they're robbing me, I feel that they're taking from the mouths of children we're trying to help and that is something which is very difficult not to get angry about."

Research from the Office of Fair Trading shows that last year, around two million people were conned out of cash via scam e-mails of various kinds.

But given the scale and nature of the Haiti tragedy, there is something quite different about this cyber crime.

Richard Hurley from Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, said: "They're very sophisticated and with that sophistication goes a large level of a very insidious nature which deliberately preys on your feelings for those innocent victims and your desire to help them.

"So it's making use of human suffering and the best in human nature at the same time simply for commercial profit."

The evidence against the M E Foundation was piling up. Their listed address in London turned out to be a newsagents which had been there for 20 years.

The newsagent said he was offended to learn that people were stealing money from others and using his address as a cover.

The other address listed for the M E Foundation was in Malaga, so we went there to try to talk to the people involved. We told our contact in Spain we would send our donation for the charity via courier.

The address given to us was in a run-down area of Malaga, and our courier waited for the contact. It all happened in a flash.

Our courier spoke to the man, in Spanish, very briefly. He clearly identified himself as the man I had spoken to.

However, as soon as the BBC team appeared with a camera and a microphone, he fled, shedding his coat, flip flops, and fake ID.

 

HOW TO AVOID SCAMS

Make sure emails are genuine. If you have any concerns about a request for donations that appears to come from a charity, contact the charity directly

Ask for a charity collector's identification and the charity's name and registration number

Check if a charity is on the public register of charities at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk

If you think you have been targeted, report it to the police or contact the Charity Commission

If you want to donate to a particular charity online, visit the charity's website

Source: Charity Commission

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 17 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 17 FEBRUARY 2010

 

DANISH TV2 TEXT:

AIR TRAFFIC TO HAITI AGAIN VERY SOON

American Airlines will reopen its air traffic between Miami and Port-au-Prince by the end of this week. From March 2010 there will be air traffic between Haiti - Puerto Rico - the Dominican Republic. This will represent a milestone in the rebuilding efforts. When the commercial flights have been resumed, we can reunite people with their dear ones and offer reliable transport, says Vice President of the American Airlines, Peter Dolara. American Airlines is the first airline to resume commercial flights / air traffic to Haiti.

 

 

DANISH TV2 TEXT: REBUILDING HAITI COSTS AS MANY AS 13.9 BILLION DOLLARS

The rebuilding and reconstruction of schools, houses, ministeries, roads and other infrastructure will amount to between 8.1 and 13.9 billion dollars.

 

SWEDISH SVT TEXT: REBUILDING HAITI COSTS AS MANY AS 13.9 BILLION DOLLARS

This is an estimate made by the InterAmerican Development Bank. The earthquake on 12 January 2010 was not only one of the worst / most destructive natural disasters in modern time when it comes to loss of human lives - it was also the most expensive. At least 217,000 people died in the earthquake according to an official estimate. The capital Port-au-Prince is now largely in ruins.

 

 

INTER-AMERICAN DEVT. BANK STUDY: QUAKE DAMAGE TWICE VALUE OF HAITI ECONOMY

 

(02/17/2010 | 09:14 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Damage from Haiti's catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake may be twice the value of the country's annual economy, Latin America's main development bank said Tuesday.

 

A report by three Inter-American Development Bank economists found last month's earthquake to be more devastating than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was for Indonesia, and five times deadlier than the 1972 earthquake that leveled Nicaragua's capital.

 

"It is the most destructive (natural disaster) a country has ever experienced when measured in terms of the number of people killed as a share of the country's population," the report says — killing one in every 50 Haitians.

 

Economists Eduardo Cavallo, Andrew Powell and Oscar Becerra estimated the magnitude-7 quake wrought damage worth between $8.1 billion and $13.9 billion.

 

Haiti produced only $7 billion worth of goods and services in 2008, according to the World Bank.

 

"This is just an assessment of damage; it gives no indication of the amount of money to get the country back as if nothing had happened," Cavallo told The Associated Press by phone.

 

He said an ongoing assessment will be needed to determine the total amount Haiti needs to rebuild.

 

The authors used statistical models based on data compiled from about 2,000 natural disasters since 1970 — taking into account estimated death tolls, levels of economic development and other factors — and they caution the study is preliminary.

 

They came up with a wide range of potential estimates, including one as low as $4.1 billion.

 

But because there is so little precedent for a disaster this size — killing more than 200,000 people and striking directly at the heart of the country's political and economic center — Cavallo said they believe the final figure will be closer to their highest estimates.

 

That is devastating news for a country whose economy was faltering before the disaster and is the Western Hemisphere's smallest per capita.

 

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and has a similarly sized population, had a $46 billion economy in 2008.

 

Disasters on the scale of Haiti's quake tend to induce long-term poverty that is difficult to reverse.

 

In many of the countries studied after their disasters, the authors found, personal wealth remained 30 percent lower 10 years after the events even with large amounts of international aid.

- AP

[nancyk58]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8519773.stm

 

THE OECD SAYS AID TO AFRICA WILL FALL WELL BELOW TARGETS :( :cry:

 

AID TO POORER COUNTRIES WILL MISS TARGETS, SAYS OECD :(

 

Aid to developing countries from richer nations will fail to hit aid targets set five years ago at the Gleneagles summit, a study has suggested.

 

Total aid will be $107bn (£68bn) in 2010 against 2005 pledges of $128bn, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has forecast.

 

Many countries will hit their targets, the OECD added, but others, including Greece and Italy, will not.

 

Aid agency OXFAM described such "broken promises" as "a scandal".

 

"Rich countries have no excuse for failing to deliver the aid increases they promised five years ago at Gleneagles," said Max Lawson at Oxfam.

 

The missing $21bn could pay for every child [in the world] to go to school and could save the lives of two million of the poorest mothers and children."

 

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed Oxfam's view when he said: "I do not believe there can be any excuse for denying money promised to the poorest people on our planet."

 

Africa will suffer the biggest shortfall in aid, the OECD said. The continent is likely to receive just $12bn of the $25bn pledged.

 

MISSING TARGETS

 

In 2005, 15 countries committed to give a minimum of 0.51% of their national income in 2010 to developing nations.

 

Some have honoured these commitments, with SWEDEN and LUXEMBOURG set to

donate 1% of their income this year.

 

The OECD said other countries set to reach the target were DENMARK (0.83%), the NETHERLANDS (0.8%), BELGIUM (0.7%), the UK (0.56%), FINLAND (0.55%), IRELAND (0.52%) and SPAIN (0.51%).

 

The countries that are not are FRANCE (0.46%), GERMANY (0.4%), AUSTRIA (0.37%), PORTUGAL (0.34%), GREECE (0.21%) and ITALY (0.2%). :(

 

Other countries made varying commitments and most, including the US, CANADA , AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND, will meet them, the OECD said.

 

POVERTY SUMMIT

 

The chairman of the Development Assistance Committee of donor countries, Eckhard Deutscher, said that although aid had increased strongly, "UNDERPERFORMANCE by [some members], notably Austria, FRANCE, GERMANY, Greece, Italy, Japan and Portugal means overall aid will still fall considerably short of what was promised".

 

"These commitments were made and confirmed repeatedly by heads of governments and it is essential that they be met to the full extent."

Of the $21bn shortfall for 2010, the OECD said $17bn was due to countries giving less than they had pledged, with $4bn down to lower-than-expected national incomes.

 

Despite the shortfall, aid to developing economies will reach record levels in dollar terms, after increasing by more than a third since 2004, the group added.

 

Mr Brown said he would work with the European Union and the Canadian presidency of the G8 group of leading economies to put in place a NEW SYSTEM that would make it much harder for countries to break aid promises in the future.

 

He added that the UK was "pushing hard" for a GLOBAL POVERTY SUMMIT IN NEW YORK later this year to set aid targets for the next five years.

 

 

HAITI-related news on 17 February 2010 in previous post

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 18 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 18 FEBRUARY 2010

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8521070.stm

 

HAITI JUDGE 'FREES EIGHT US MISSIONARIES'

 

Eight of the 10 Americans accused of kidnapping children in Haiti after January's quake, have been released from custody.

 

But the group's leader Laura Silsby, and one other member, Charisa Coulter, are being held for more investigation.

 

The five men and five women, mostly from Idaho, denied allegations they tried to smuggle 33 children across the border to the Dominican Republic.

 

They were arrested 17 days after the quake that killed up to 230,000 people.

 

The group walked out of jail shortly after dusk on Wednesday and were taken to Haiti's international airport at Port-au-Prince. Reports said they expected to begin their journey back to the US overnight.

 

"The judge wants to question two of my clients because they were in Haiti before the earthquake," the group's lawyer Aviol Fleurant told AFP news agency.

 

The case has drawn huge media attention and criticism from some - including the Haitian prime minister - that it is distracting from earthquake recovery.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Haitian President Rene Preval greeted French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who arrived to assess the aid efforts.

 

HAITIAN PASTOR

 

The eight missionaries are being freed without bail but are required to come back to Haiti for any legal proceedings if required.

 

The missionaries, from the New Life Children's Refuge, face charges of child abduction and criminal conspiracy. The group had said they were taking the children to an orphanage.

 

But it has since emerged that some of the youngsters' parents are still alive, and many came from the same village.

 

The group's leader, Ms Silsby, has said her group had met a Haitian pastor by chance when it arrived in the country, and that he had helped them gather the children.

 

She also admitted that the missionaries did not have the proper paperwork.

The children, who are aged from two to 12, were later taken into care in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, the visiting Mr Sarkozy pledged 270m euros (£235m) in RECONSTRUCTION AID as he became the first French head of state to visit the former colony.

 

Mr Sarkozy said: "France will live up to the responsibilities of its shared history and FRIENDSHIP WITH HAITI."

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 18 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Swedish SV2: 8 OF 10 US MISSIONARIES HAVE BEEN RELEASED AND HAVE LEFT HAITI.

They landed early this morning (Swedish time) in Miami airport. The female leader of the group and another woman have not been released, but are held back for further questioning.

 

Swedish SV2:

FRENCH FINANCIAL AID TO HAITI.

France has pledged to give 366 million EURO - including 58 million EURO from debts that have been written off - to the earthquake-ravaged Haiti according to President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the first French president to visit the former French colony since Haiti became independent in 1804. President Sarkozy saw the destroyed capital Port-au-Prince from a helicopter and visited a field camp hospital established by French relief workers.

 

 

US MISSIONARIES FREED FROM HAITI ARRIVE IN MIAMI

 

(02/18/2010 | 02:20 PM – GMA News.TV)

 

MIAMI - Eight American missionaries freed by a Haitian judge landed in Miami early Thursday, nearly three weeks after the group was charged with kidnapping for trying to take 33 children out of the quake-stricken country.

 

Lt. Kenneth Scholz with the US Southern Command said a U.S. Airforce C-130 cargo plane carrying the Americans landed just after midnight (0500 GMT) at Miami International Airport. The group still hadn't emerged from customs as of early Thursday.

 

The group's swift departure from Haiti began a day earlier when Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said eight of the 10 missionaries were free to leave without bail because parents of the children had testified they voluntarily gave their children to the missionaries believing the Americans would give them a better life.

"The parents gave their kids away voluntarily," Saint-Vil said in explaining his decision.

 

He said, however, that he still wanted to question the group's leader, Laura Silsby, and her former nanny, Charisa Coulter, because they had visited Haiti prior to the quake to inquire about obtaining orphans.

 

Hours later, just after dusk, the bedraggled, sweat-stained group of eight walked out of the Haitian jail escorted by US diplomats.

 

They waited until they were safely inside a white embassy van before some flashed smiles and gave a thumbs up to reporters.

 

Their plane took off from Port-au-Prince shortly thereafter as a group of reporters watched.

 

Silas Thompson, 19, of Twin Falls, Idaho, plopped into the back seat, breathing heavily and beaming with relief. He'd accompanied his father Paul, a pastor, on the mission not knowing that Silsby had not obtained the proper papers, said his US-based lawyer, Caleb Stegall.

 

The missionaries were charged with child kidnapping for trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without Haitian adoption certificates.

 

Their detentions came just as aid officials were urging a halt to short-cut adoptions in the wake of the earthquake and, before their release, Haiti's No. 2 justice official, Claudy Gassent, informed them of the judge's decision but said he also gave them a lecture. - They know they broke the law," he said.

 

The missionaries say they were on a do-it-youself "rescue mission" to take child quake victims to a hastily prepared orphanage in the Dominican Republic, denying the trafficking charge.

 

Silsby originally said they were taking only orphaned and abandoned children, but The Associated Press determined that at least 20 were handed over willingly by their parents, who said the Baptists had promised to educate them and let their parents visit.

 

Saint-Vil said he did not release Silsby, 47, or Coulter, 24, because of their previous activities in Haiti during a December visit.

 

Silsby hastily enlisted the rest of the group after the quake.

 

Coulter, of Boise, Idaho, is diabetic and the judge signed an order Wednesday afternoon authorizing her hospitalization. - AP

 

--------------------------

 

QUAKE ROCKS CHINA-RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA BORDER REGION

 

(02/18/2010 | 11:03 AM – GMA News.TV)

 

BEIJING – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck Thursday morning in the region where China, Russia and North Korea meet, the US Geological Survey reported.

 

The temblor hit about 9:15 a.m., and office towers in Beijing swayed slightly for about a minute.

 

The USGS said the quake was centered on the Russian coast along the sea of Japan, 61 miles (98 kilometers) west-southwest of Vladivostok, Russia and about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east from Yanji city in northeast China's Jilin province.

 

A man at the Jilin province earthquake bureau said the agency was trying to get more information and did not have any immediate details.

- AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in HAITI on 19 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 19 FEBRUARY 2010

 

German ZDF Text:

UN LAUNCHED A BILLION APPEAL FOR HAITI'S VICTIMS

The United Nations launched a new appeal Thursday for $1.44 billion to help the 3 million Haitians, 1/3 of the Haitian population, affected by last month's devastating earthquake. It is UN's largest appeal ever for a natural disaster. One third of the money goes to food supplies. Haiti must prepare for the rainy season which is expected to begin in May followed by the hurricane season. More than 200,000 Haitians died in the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

 

Swedish SVT Text:

UN LAUNCHES ITS LARGEST APPEAL EVER - FOR HAITI

The United Nations launched a new appeal Thursday for $1.44 billion. The amount requested is higher than for any of the previous humanitarian relief efforts and more than for the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. More than 1.2 million people are estimated to be homeless in Haiti, and their situation will worsen when the rainy season begins. There exists an urgent need for tents, water and food before the rainy season begins. "Pledge less and give it - and do it sooner rather than later", said UN's special envoy Bill Clinton according to BBC.

 

Danish Text TV: UN LAUNCHED A $1.44 BILLION APPEAL IN HUMANITARIAN AID FOR HAITI

It is UN's largest appeal ever. A large part of the money will go to the creation of tolerable conditions of living such as shelter for more than 1 million homeless in Haiti. Heavy rain showers in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince have already caused difficult conditions of life for the many homeless Haitians. Relief workers are battling against the clock to find enough tarpaulins to Haitians living on the streets. Many homeless are digging small ditches to prevent water from entering their shelters.

 

UN APPEALS FOR NEARLY $1.5 BILLION FOR HAITI

 

(2/19/2010 | 10:08 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations launched a new appeal Thursday for nearly $1.5 billion to help the 3 million Haitians affected by last month's devastating earthquake, its largest appeal ever for a natural disaster.The appeal, covering needs in 2010, is more than double the UN's initial request on Jan. 15 for $562 million to help quake victims for six months.

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy for Haiti, former US President Bill Clinton, launched the $1.44 billion appeal at a meeting with diplomats from many of the 191 other UN member states.

 

"Before last month's disaster we had a plan for Haiti's long-term development and reconstruction," Ban said. "Our challenge today is to reformulate that plan to help Haitians build back better."

 

With the rainy season approaching, he said, the top priority is to provide shelter, sanitation and humanitarian assistance.

 

Clinton told the diplomats the appeal is important to begin long-term rebuilding but first the world must help millions of Haitians living day-to-day and facing many problems: Will their children get diarrhea and die because of contaminated water in camps for the displaced? Will their tents be blown away when the hurricane season starts? Will they have enough food?

 

"We have to move them from living day-to-day to where people are living month-to-month," he said, and that means building some shelters that can withstand hurricanes, scaling up cash-for-work programs to get young people who are reviving gangs into jobs, and reopening schools.

 

Donors have already pledged $673 million, said Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That means $768 million is still needed, she said.

 

Clinton told potential donors "it is very important not to have courtesy commitments." "If you can't give what you wish you could, pledge less and give it — and do it sooner rather than later," he said, promising that all donations will be tracked on a Web site in a transparent way.

 

According to the UN, the size of the revised appeal — covering about 30 percent of Haiti's population — reflects the scale of the catastrophe caused by the Jan. 12 quake that killed over 200,000 people.

 

More than 1.2 million Haitians need emergency shelter and urgent santitation facilities, at least 2 million need food, and some 500,000 people who fled Port-au-Prince and other badly affected cities also need help, the UN said.

 

The new appeal also seeks funds to revive agriculture, provide emergency telecommunications, manage camps for the displaced, improve nutrition and start early recovery programs including cash-for-work.

 

Although emergency humanitarian relief efforts will have to continue for many months, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said, "we have to be engaged in Haiti for the long haul, for life-saving relief as well as reconstruction."

 

"We need a shelter surge and a sanitation surge to go along with the food surge that happened over the last couple of weeks," he told reporters.

 

Haiti's UN Ambassador Leo Merores echoed the urgent need for shelter with the approaching rainy season.

 

The largest UN appeal for a natural disaster before Haiti was the 2005 request for $1.41 billion for the Asian tsunami that struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim and left 230,000 people dead. - AP

 

 

UN CALLS FOR COORDINATED HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS

 

(2/19/2010 | 12:21 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

UNITED NATIONS — The UN humanitarian chief called Thursday for improved coordination of relief efforts to tackle the massive challenges in Haiti a month after the devastating earthquake, from a lack of shelter to rubble removal.

 

John Holmes was commenting on an e-mail he sent to United Nations staff that, according to a Washington Post report, said that an uneven response to the Jan. 12 quake "is leading others to doubt our ability to deliver."

 

The paper quoted Holmes as saying he was disappointed that several of the "clusters" assigned to coordinate delivery of aid have not yet assessed needs or developed plans to respond.

 

"We've achieved a lot in the first month in particular in areas like water and food and health ... ," he told reporters. "But we recognize that we have a lot further to go."

 

The UN, in major emergencies, divides responsibility for key needs like shelter, water and sanitation, health care and education to 12 different "clusters" in which UN and independent relief agencies coordinate disaster response so efforts aren't duplicated and aid reaches those most in need.

 

Critics of the cluster setups in Haiti have complained that too much time is wasted on meetings that could be better spent getting help into the field.

 

Holmes disputed the negative characterization of the e-mail, saying that would "disrespect" hundreds of people working for the UN, nongovernmental organizations and the Red Cross and Red Crescent working in Haiti "in incredibly difficult conditions and actually doing a very good job."

 

"We are just getting towards realizing the full scale of this catastrophe and what we have to do to address it," Holmes said.

 

"We need a shelter surge and a sanitation surge to go along with the food surge that happened over the last couple of weeks," he said. "Rubble removal is a massive challenge and then we have to get on to early recovery and education and agriculture, cash-for-work and all those kind of areas."

 

Holmes said he was making a technical point about "the kind of trust and leadership support that's needed rather than saying we're failing in some way."

 

"What I'm trying to say is there's still a huge amount to do. We need to have the proper cluster coordination resources to do that — which will go well beyond what are needed in any ordinary disaster," he said.

- AP

[nancyk58]

The Berliner Philharmoniker to give benefit concert for Haiti - LIVE on the WEB TODAY Saturday 20.2.10 at 8pm GMT + 1

 

www.Unicef.org

 

UNICEF: THE BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER TO GIVE BENEFIT CONCERT FOR HAITI – LIVE on the WEB

 

NEW YORK/GENEVA/BERLIN 18 February 2010 - UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador The Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and featuring pianist Mitsuko Uchida are dedicating a concert on SATURDAY, 20 FEBRUARY (8:00 p.m. GMT +1) to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. All proceeds from the concert and the Digital Concert Hall webcast will be donated to UNICEF’s emergency assistance for children in Haiti.

 

Classical music fans all over the world can watch the concert online live in the Digital Concert Hall at http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de.

 

BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER

Sir Simon Rattle Conductor

Mitsuko Uchida Piano

 

PROGRAMME:

György Ligeti

San Francisco Polyphony

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major

Jean Sibelius

Symphony No. 2

 

"We are giving the concert on the 20 February to raise money for the catastrophe in Haiti," said Sir Simon Rattle, asking people to watch the concert (which is sold out in the Philharmonie) live in the Digital Concert Hall. "As the proceeds from every online ticket will go directly to UNICEF, please join us, enjoy the concert and help us at the same time."

 

The Berliner Philharmoniker has been an international UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007.

 

The orchestra’s Berlin concerts are broadcast live at http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de and are available in a video archive within a few days.

 

 

BACKGROUND on the concert:

Round table discussion on YouTube with Sir Simon Rattle, Mitsuko Uchida, Sabine Christiansen (UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador), Emmanuel Pahud and Pamela Rosenberg (General Manager of the Berliner Philharmoniker).

 

 

A video message from Sir Simon Rattle:

http://dch.berliner-philharmoniker.de/#/en/liveconcerts/2010/2/t295/

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Veronique Taveau, UNICEF Geneva, 011 41 22 909 5716 e-mail: [email protected]

 

Kate Donovan, UNICEF New York, + 212 326 7452 e-mail: [email protected]

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 20 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 20 FEBRUARY 2010

 

TV2 TTV (Danish text-TV):

EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS FIGHTING OVER SHELTER

 

Survivors of the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 are fighting over plastic materials enabling them to build a shelter from the rain. When relief workers were distributing material enabling the survivors to build shelters at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in Port-au-Prince, fights broke out among the inhabitants of an impromptu tent village. The police had to intervene to stop the disturbance. Outside of Plaza Hotel a group of men threatened each other with bits of rubble while discussing who was the owner of a tarpaulin.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in the Philippines on 20 February 2010

 

NEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES ON 20 FEBRUARY 2010

 

40° C WEATHER POSSIBLE DUE TO El NIÑO —PAGASA

 

(02/20/2010 | 07:48 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

With the El Niño phenomenon threatening to make the coming summer season hotter, state weather forecasters are not discounting 40-degree Celsius weather in some parts of the country.

 

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the temperatures in Metro Manila alone will likely go up to a sweltering 36 to 37 degrees Celsius.

 

“We will observe other areas of the country such as Northern Luzon," Pagasa weather bureau head Nathaniel Cruz said in an interview on dzRH radio on Saturday, when asked about the possibility of 40-degree weather in summer.

 

"In Metro Manila, the weather could go up to 36 or 37 degrees. That is enough to feel very hot," he said. The hottest temperature recorded in the Philippines was in Tuguegarao in Cagayan province on April 29, 1912. On that day, the temperature there reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit or 42.2 degrees Celsius, according to the Weather Explained website.

 

“El Niño is in its final stages but the effects are being felt in the Philippines only now. In Luzon particularly, we are about to feel the LACK OF RAIN," he said.

 

He added the LACK OF RAIN is expected to persist along with HOT WEATHER from March to June.

 

“Summer has not set in but the northeast monsoon has started to weaken. We expect the weather to get hotter in March and April, and especially hot in May," he said.

 

—LBG, GMANews.TV

 

 

PINAY KILLED IN HAITY QUAKE FINALLY HOME

 

(02/20/2010 | 07:35 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

After a one-day delay, the remains of a Filipino woman killed in last month’s magnitude-7 quake in Haiti finally arrived home early Saturday.

 

Radio dzBB’s Manny Vargas reported that the family of Mary Grace Fabian waited for the remains to arrive on a Philippine Airlines PR-103 flight from Los Angeles.

 

“We love you Grace Fabian," read the placards they brought with them while they waited at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

 

Dolores Fabian, Mary Grace’s mother, said they plan to bury her in Las Piñas City this Monday. In the meantime, they said they would bring the remains to Rizal Funeral Homes in Pasay City.

 

For its part, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said it is checking its records to see if Fabian is an OWWA member and entitled to benefits and livelihood assistance.

 

“I have to check our records if she is a member....," OWWA head Carmelita Dimzon said.

 

The repatriation of Fabian’s remains were delayed for a day due to some glitches.

 

Fabian’s body was pulled out of the collapsed Caribbean Supermarket at 11 a.m. of February 7 in Haiti, or midnight of Feb. 7 in Manila.

 

Lowel Lalican, the husband of Geraldine Lalican, another OFW still trapped under the rubble of the supermarket, identified the remains. Fabian, an employee of the Caribbean Supermarket, was identified through her uniform, hair and necklace.

 

Fabian’s Haiti-based sister Rosalyn had initially instructed that the remains be interred at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince. But the DFA said Fabian’s family in the Philippines requested that her remains be repatriated.

- LBG, GMANews.TV