Aid Continues To Struggle To Reach Haiti

Planes full of aid have been delayed, and aid that has arrived to Haiti is stranded on the tarmac, slow to be distributed. The US military, which is in control of the airport and airspace, said the circumstances are challenging but they are making progress. Aid groups are frustrated.

The US military has increased the number of flights exponentially. A single airstrip used to receiving a mere three flights per day is now handling nearly a hundred.

But the demand is even greater.

Benoip Leduc, Emergency Coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Port au Prince, said getting aid into the country is “the first problem.”

Leduc said two Doctors Without Borders cargo plains full of “critical” medical supplies were delayed and rerouted to the Dominican Republic.

Joseph Mutti, Program Coordinator for Airline Ambassadors International, an organization that has been doing relief work in Haiti since the 90s, said a flight scheduled for tomorrow full of doctors and relief supplies has already been canceled.

“They couldn’t handle our flight so it was canceled,” Mutti said.

Jose Ruiz, spokesperson for US Southern Command admitted that planes have been delayed, but he says they are not denied. “No aircraft that has requested to land…that has aid on it has been denied their request to land,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz said the Haitian government determines what supplies are most needed. Currently, planes with water, food and medical supplies have priority.

Media outlets report that the United Nations and some countries, including France and Brazil, filed complaints with the US military because their planes were unable to land.

The Telegraph newspaper reports this:

The French minister in charge of humanitarian relief called on the UN to “clarify” the American role amid claims the military build up was hampering aid efforts.

“This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti,” Mr Joyandet told the Guardian.

The counties charge the US military of taking up too many landing slots with planes full of military personnel.

Captain John Kirby is a spokesperson for the military’s Joint Task Force. He said the military is trying to allow the same number of civilian flights as military flights.

“We’re trying very hard to make an even split the number of military flights and civilian flights and we’re able to trying to balance it out,” Kirby said.

The military says each plane gets two hours to land, offload supplies and leave.

Captain John Kirby is a spokesperson for the military’s Joint Task Force. He says there are more planes wanting to land than are able to.

Once the aid is delivered, the very next challenge is distributing it.

Aid groups say relief supplies are piling up on the tarmac. Challenges of coordination among aid groups, the Haitian government and the military seem to all be to blame.

Doctors Without Borders said distribution is difficult because of blocked roads, missing staff and mis-communication.

US AID, which is coordinating the distribution efforts with the US military, says it is challenging to coordinate the different groups.

Tim Callaghan is head of the Disaster Relief Response Team said “there obviously have been some challenges in the first few days of coordination, but there is a plan in place.”

Callaghan said the plan is too coordinate US AID with non-profits, the United Nations and the Haitian government. He said that by the end of the day today 100 distribution centers will be up and running.

The US military says that by the end of the day, the US military will have 7000 service members in Haiti. They are armed, but maintain that their mission is search and rescue and humanitarian relief.

Jose Ruiz, Spokesperson for US Southern Command, points to 9000 UN Peacekeepers have been on the ground since 2004 to take the lead on security and peacekeeping.

The US says they will stay in Haiti as long as they are requested.

They also said they will continue to conduct searches for people through tomorrow, at which time, the operation will likely begin to focus on recovery.

Editor’s Note: Please follow Leigh Ann Caldwell on Twitter, and visit this author’s archive on News Junkie Post.

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