Haitian Death Toll Revised to 230,000
In Haiti, the official death toll from last month’s earthquake has been revised to over 230,000. The Haitian government made the announcement with the warning that more bodies remain uncounted. The revised death toll puts the Haitian earthquake on par with the 2004 Asian tsunami. On Tuesday, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said his government still has no way to house more than one million people left homeless by the quake.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive: “We are still in a very difficult situation. One month after that, we still have one million of people on the streets. We still don’t have a clear vision of certain problem, how we are going to relocate all those people.”


Rainy Season Approaches in Haiti
The United Nations is warning that Haiti may soon face another catastrophe as the rainy season approaches. Aid workers are racing to move victims outside floodplains and into tents. They are also trying to clear tons of debris from ravines, canals and riverbeds, so rain does not turn the camps into breeding grounds for disease.

Kim Bolduc of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti: “The concern now, obviously, is the rainy season that is about to come. So, regarding shelter, we are now considering the setting up of some hazard-resistant or hurricane-proof type of shelter. This is obviously a better solution, a more costly one, and probably it would take longer to bring them in here. We would recall that the port facilities are not operating. And basically, this equipment are very heavy, and they would need the port to be open to be able to bring them in. Otherwise, bringing them in by planes would have an enormous cost.”


US Sets May 1st Target for Sheltering Haitians, Long After Rainy Season Begins
Haiti has been struck with its first heavy rainfall Thursday since last month’s earthquake. The coming rainy season has raised fears of disease outbreaks and worsening misery for the hundreds of thousands of people still without shelter. Hours after the rain began, hundreds of people marched on the Port-au-Prince airport to protest a lack of tents. The UN estimates nearly 750,000 people have yet to receive any tents or tarps. Even the temporary shelter provided to an estimated 250,000 people will likely be unable to protect them from the rain. Despite those figures, the coordinator for US relief efforts in Haiti, Lewis Lucke, said the US is aiming to address plastic sheeting needs, not in the coming weeks, but by May 1st.


Judge Calls for Release of Detained Missionaries
In other news from Haiti, the judge overseeing the case against ten US missionaries says he thinks they should be released while awaiting trial. The missionaries were charged last week with child kidnapping after they were caught trying to leave Haiti with a bus load of children.


Haitian Women Protest Lack of Aid
Dozens of Haitian women held a protest Tuesday calling for speedier aid. Marching in the capital Port-au-Prince, the women carried signs reading “We need food” and “We need tents.”


US Firms Lobby Haiti for Reconstruction Deals
In other Haiti news, the Miami Herald reports at least two politically connected US firms have begun jockeying for lucrative reconstruction contracts. The firms, Florida-based AshBritt and DRC Group of Alabama, have already held separate meetings with Haitian President René Préval. AshBritt has attracted controversy for a $900 million government contract after Hurricane Katrina. Critics say AshBritt was favored over local contractors in part through its donations to influential political lobbyists.

Click here to post a comment, or to post your own Diaspora article or commentary.

Read and search news of the Diaspora on SeeingBlack.com's Diaspora channel and archive.

Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.

Do you shop at Amazon? Well shop through our link and support SeeingBlack.com!

© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com

Top of Page