Dominican Authorities Coordinate with Red Cross to Send First Aid to Haiti

Dominican Authorities Coordinate with Red Cross to Send First Aid to Haiti

Dominican authorities, under orders from President Leonel Fernández, are coordinating with the International and Dominican Red Cross to rush aid to neighboring Haiti following the devastating earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. This is the first foreign humanitarian aid to arrive to Haiti.

The convoy, made up of 12 trucks, is the first international humanitarian aid to arrive to Haiti to be distributed among those affected by the quake which has essentially destroyed the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince,…

The information was released by Rafael Núñez, Secretary of State and Director of the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity; he was speaking to the press in Jimaní on the Dominican-Haitian border.

The convoy, made up of 12 trucks, is the first international humanitarian aid to arrive to Haiti to be distributed among those affected by the quake which has essentially destroyed the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, reported the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

Mr. Núñez said General Ricardo del Toro, commander of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH, the French acronym) has assured the Dominican Mission that it will be given a place to operate near Haiti’s Presidential Palace. He said that other institutions closely collaborating in the rescue and relief effort in Haiti include the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Potable Water and Sewer Systems (INAPA), the Corporation of Aqueduct and Sewers of Santo Domingo (CAASD), the Social Plan of the Presidency and the Armed Forces.

Núñez indicated that the government is also helping evacuate people injured in the earthquake by airlifting them by helicopter to hospitals in the Dominican Republic.

Date of Publication : January 14, 2010