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Friday, January 29, 2010
With international aid still slow to reach many survivors, Haitian government officials began distributing food directly to people in the capital on Tuesday last.
Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told The Miami Herald that before leaving for Canada on Sunday, he ordered the purchase of dry foods such as rice, pasta and beans to help feed the estimated 2 million people in need of nourishment after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12.
Government food distributions started in Cit Soleil, with security provided by the Haitian national police. Those delivering the food wore shirts bearing a Haitian insignia and the words gouvenman'm ave'm (Your government is with you).
More distributions are planned to continue in the Carrefour neighborhood, and farther west of the capital, in hard-hit Logne, Bellerive said. The World Food Program reported this week that it has delivered meals to about 400,000 people this is far below the organization's estimate of 2 million people in need.
WFP officials have cited security concerns, particularly the tumultuous crowds at distribution sites, for the slow pace of food distribution. Bellerive said he went to Montreal for an international conference on rebuilding Haiti with some specific expectations, including reminding other governments that Haiti's emergency needs will not end for months, maybe years.
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