Americans announce air drops as aid fails to reach desperate Haitians
January 20, 2010
With each hour that passes in devastated Haiti the threat of violence increases and the Americans have now announced that they plan to air drop much needed food, water and medical supplies throughout the country. Initially it was considered too dangerous to do this because of the risk of rioting but with aid simply not getting to those who so desperately need it there seem to be few alternatives. One air drop has already been made to a secure area to the north-east of Port-au-Prince because the airport is overwhelmed.
Many of the roads leading out of the airport and away from the port have been badly damaged or are blocked by traffic frustrating attempts to get aid to the earthquake victims overland. There is also the threat that relief convoys will be attacked and there are reports that one American has already died and three injured although how and why has not been made clear.
Haitian police officials seem to be just as confused as everyone else as to the reasons why foreign aid has not made it to the people on the streets. Police commander Ralph Jean-Brice declared that the delicate situation is now ready to explode if supplies are not more quickly distributed. Police officer Pierre Roger lamented that the number of police trying to keep a grip on the situation were too few and the people crowding the streets too desperate. To cap it all there are the rumblings of diplomatic tensions as some accuse the U.S. of using the disaster as an excuse to occupy the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
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