The UN has rejected criticism of slow distribution of aid in Haiti, two years after the 2010 earthquake that killed 200,000 people. It has also appealed for more long-term assistance to the country.
The UN’s deputy special representative to Haiti, Nigel Fisher, says that 50 percent of the debris has been cleared and that the numbers of people in emergency camps has fallen by two thirds, to 500,000.
Agencies on the ground report that getting essential supplies and equipment through Haitian customs takes at least a month, a factor that has greatly hindered their reconstruction efforts. Others say there are too many agencies with overlapping and competing interests.
Aid activities were hampered to some extent by the delay in the formation of a new government. But now that President Michel Martelly has appointed a prime minister, Garry Conille, there are hopes that the government will be in a better position to support the country’s reconstruction.
