 |
 |
2010/01/18
DPJ Haiti Mission visits disaster area, meets with President Préval
|
 |
|
|
On the evening of January 18, the DPJ Haiti Earthquake Aid Need Assessment Mission, consisting of DPJ International Department Director General, member of the House of Councillors Yukihisa Fujita, and member of the House of Councillors Nobuhiko Suto, departed from Narita bound for the disaster zone. On January 20, the mission arrived in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and as well as thoroughly assessing the needs of the victims of the disaster, met with Haitian President Réne Préval.
Fujita conveyed a message of sympathy from Prime Minister and DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama regarding the tragic loss of lives in the disaster to the President, as well as informing him of the assistance provided by the Japanese government. He also expressed the expectation that the aid talks to be held in Montreal on January 25 would enable the participants to pinpoint the assistance most required by Haiti.
Préval expressed his sincere gratitude for the aid being provided by Japan, and said that he himself intended to attend the Montreal conference to engage directly in coordinating the reception of the necessary aid. He added that if such coordination of assistance does not take place, aid will not be effective, and cited the current problems regarding the take-off and landing of flights from Port-au-Prince airport as one example.
Préval went on to reveal that a committee for coordinating the aid response had been established on January 22 in the neighbouring Dominican Republic by the United Nations and nations involved in the aid effort, and that this committee would discuss what assistance was required in a variety of fields, including public health.
The President ended the meeting by repeating his thanks for Japan’s assistance, and shaking hands with Fujita and Suto.
Prior to the meeting with President Préval, the DPJ Mission members met with the United Nations Representative in Haiti, Edmond Mulet. Fujita conveyed a message of condolence from Prime Minister Hatoyama regarding the loss of so many serving UN officers in the earthquake. He also passed on a message from Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Koiichi Takemasa stating that Japan wished to ensure that the Montreal aid conference would be productive. Fujita went on to explain the Japanese government’s response to the disaster, saying that in addition to 5 million dollars’ worth of aid, and the dispatch of the Japan Disaster Relief Team, Japan was considering sending a 100-member Self Defense Force medical team to Haiti.
Mulet commented on the current law and order situation in the country, as well as the coordination of aid efforts between donor nations, saying that 1) generally speaking the security situation was stable and calm. Media reports that looting was widespread in Port-au-Prince were exaggerated. 2) The majority of the Haitian police force had returned to duty, and law and order was improving by the day, 3) shipments of aid were arriving one after another and the range of aid distribution was increasing. However, he added that in the aftermath of the earthquake, over two thousand prisoners had escaped from jail and this posed a threat to security.
Fujita asked Mulet for his cooperation in selecting a suitable area for the SDF medical team scheduled to be sent to Haiti. Mulet responded, “The Japan Disaster Relief Team is carrying out very productive efforts in the city of Leogane in conjunction with Sri Lankan troops. This is a result of their having selected the best possible place for their efforts. The SDF are capable of carrying out totally self-contained operations, and so I should think it would be easy to select an area for their operations.”
Suto asked for Mulet’s response to the following issues: 1) the accuracy of American media reports citing that the need to bury quake victims in mass graves was causing emotional suffering amongst Haitians, and 2) the risk of outbreaks of disease. Mulet replied that at two burial sites, individual identification of the dead was being carried out, and that there were currently no signs of outbreaks of disease.
Mulet went on to explain that there was a shortage of drinking water, but a shipment of 10 thousand gallons was scheduled and so everything looked good in that area, and that an aid framework that would distribute food to one million people in the course of two weeks and two million people in the course of four weeks was well on the way to be being created. He added that on January 19, food aid for 100,000 people had arrived, but it had only be received by 25,000, and said that there had been problems with transporting the aid by land.
Fujita expressed his appreciation and expectations for the UN activities in Haiti, promised that the Hatoyama administration would deliver all possible assistance, and stressed his hopes that the Montreal talks would be fruitful, and with that the meeting ended.
|
|
|
| ▲このページのトップへ |
|
.jpg)
.jpg)