US pledges more aid to earthquake victims in Haiti

[ad_1]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – The United States pledged another $32 million in aid for victims of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti on Thursday, as the country’s interim prime minister defended his government’s response.

Samantha Power, USAID Administrator, said the US government learned of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and said USAID was coordinating closely with the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

“This $32 million in funding will provide additional shelter, health, food, water and other urgent life-saving assistance” with input and guidance from the Haitian government, Power said. Perhaps the most important lesson (from 2010) is that no development agency, army or diplomatic body can only import an ideal humanitarian response from afar. You need local expertise and local leadership to reach communities in need.”

The August 14 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless in the southwestern Haiti peninsula. Bauer and Henry said providing emergency shelter was a top priority about two weeks after the earthquake.

Speaking together at the Capital International Airport as US military planes ferried people and supplies into the country, Henry said his government is coordinating the relief response despite the turmoil caused by the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moyes.

“The Haitian government faces a lot of challenges,” Henry said. “We have political difficulties, we have economic difficulties, but despite all these issues, we are facing the challenges of the earthquake.”

He declined to assert that the government was a mess. “The Haitian government is present,” he said. NGOs and US government agencies in the earthquake zone have been much more visible since the earthquake. For several days, relief efforts were hampered by the inability to safely move relief supplies and earthquake victims through a gang-controlled area south of the capital.

The government pledged more security.

Moyes was killed by a group of mercenaries who stormed the presidential residence. The investigation into his murder is still ongoing.

“Anyone with a finger in the killing of the president will face justice,” Attorney General Rockefeller Vincent said Thursday.

Vincent said the new investigative judge appointed this week will have all the resources he needs to conduct the investigation. The first judge assigned to the case withdrew after four days. Vincent announced a $60,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of three fugitives in the case.

“I am asking residents to remain calm and let justice do the work,” Vincent said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

.

[ad_2]