Switzerland, Dominican Republic offer humanitarian aid to Haiti following earthquake

By STAFF WRITER

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Aug. 22, CMC – The Governments of Switzerland and the Dominican Republic have both offered humanitarian aid and other forms of assistance to Haiti in the aftermath of the recent earthquake.

According to officials in Switzerland, the country has mobilized specialized staff and equipment to support the Haitian Civil Protection. This is being facilitated through the Embassy of Switzerland here.

Last week, a plane with members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps (CSA) left for Haiti – the team consists of a logistician, two water sanitation specialists, two structural engineers, a disaster area advisor and a team leader.

The team will support actions already initiated by the Swiss Embassy here that has already mobilized its staff on site in the aftermath of the earthquake – in particular architects, emergency shelter and risk reduction specialists to support the Haitian civil protection in the needs assessment.

Currently located in Port Salut – in the district of Les Cayes near the epicenter, the Swiss teams will deploy over three thousand tarpaulins and two drinking water distribution modules of 5,000 liters each in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, three ships of the Dominican Navy in the neighboring Dominican Republic, arrived at the port of Jérémie, located to the southwest of here on Friday, with tons of humanitarian aid to help the population of the area most affected by last Saturday’s 7.2 earthquake, Civil Protection reported.

The vessels are part of a fleet of five ships loaded with 60 tons of food and medicine, which have been sent by the Dominican Republic to assist those affected by the powerful earthquake, which caused at least 2,200 deaths and 12,000 people injured.

The shipment sent from the Dominican Republic consists of 9,478 rations of food, including sardines, cereals, rice, beans, oil, salami and pasta.

Similarly, the Dominican Republic has arranged the San Isidro air base, in Santo Domingo, to be a collection center for national and international aid destined for Haiti.

From that air base, an airlift has been established to facilitate the shipment of supplies received at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.