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Indonesian aid for Haiti arrives in Dominican Rep.
Tough survivor: In this photo provided by ACT Alliance, earthquake victim Ena Zizi drinks water after being carried alive from the rubble of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on Tuesday
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span class="inline inline-right">Tough survivor: In this photo provided by ACT Alliance, earthquake victim Ena Zizi drinks water after being carried alive from the rubble of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on Tuesday. Zizi was rescued from the collapsed home of the parish priest at Port-au-Prince’s Roman Catholic Cathedral by members of a Mexican search and rescue team. AP/Paul Jeffrey
Indonesia’s aid for Haiti and a delegation of 81 people have arrived in neighboring Dominican Republic on Wednesday evening after leaving from Honolulu.
“The aid will likely be distributed by the UN to Haiti from the Dominican Republic if the ongoing negotiation, which will last untill 1 a.m. [Thursday morning], fails to allow us direct entry to Haiti,” said Priyadi Kardono, head of information and data for the National Disaster Management Body.
“There is no information yet on when the aid can be brought to Haiti if the UN has to take over the delivery but we will try to bring it directly to Haiti,” he said.
Indonesia has sent 30 ton of aid worth US$22 million to Haiti but cannot reach the county sooner than Feb. 7, the date of entry permit, because the local airport is already swamped with other flights carrying aid. The delegation then opted for sending the relief first to the Dominican Republic.
Delegation head Lt. Col. Eko Margiyono said there was a possibility that only 10 people from the 81-strong delegation that could get into Haiti as access to the quake-devastated country was restricted.
“The rest of the team members may have to leave here and go back to Indonesia if they cannot get access to Haiti,” he said.
Access to Haiti has been difficult due to the limited capacity of the local airport, at a time when many people are reportedly dying in hospitals due to the lack to medical supplies.
Reuters reported a new earthquake shook the devastated Haitian capital on Wednesday morning, creating panic among survivors of last week’s devastating quake camped out in the streets but apparently causing no new destruction.
The powerful 6.1 magnitude aftershock at daybreak sent shrieking Haitians running away from buildings and walls in the shattered city fearing a repeat of the magnitude 7 earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people eight days ago.
“It felt really strong. Each aftershock is frightening. We feel it right here [pointing at his stomach] because after last Tuesday you never know how strong it is going to be,” said Lenis Batiste, camped out on some grass with two children.
The US Geological Survey said Wednesday’s tremor was centered 60 km west-southwest of Port-au-Prince.
Desperate and hungry residents of Port-au-Prince have been sleeping outdoors since the Jan. 12 earthquake because their homes were destroyed, or from fear of aftershocks.
