Dominican and Haitian Authorities to Meet in Jimaní

Dominican and Haitian authorities will meet on Monday to improve the mechanisms now in use to move machinery and merchandise between the two countries in an effort to normalize the situation in Haiti after the devastating earthquake of January 12.

The meeting will take place in the border city of Jimaní at 11:00 am where the Dominican government has installed a command post to direct the rescue and humanitarian relief operations for Haiti.

Officials expected to participate in the meeting from both countries include the Secretary of the Dominican Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Rafael Peña Antonio and the Chief of the Haitian Police Force, Mario Andresol; Customs Directors Rafael Camilo and Jean Jacques Valentín; Ministers of Interior and Police Franklin Almeida and B. Benaime; Foreign Ministers Carlos Morales Troncoso and Michell Rey and Ministers of Public Health, Bautista Rojas Gómez and Marcelin Bordeau.

The government also announced, through the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity, that through the continuation of Operation Friendly Hand, the Ministry of Public Health initiated the transfer of recovering patients to the Fond Parisién camp set up in Haiti.

The communiqué also stated that, so far, more than 14,000 earthquake victims have been treated, in addition to a 200-million-peso investment and equipment sent to the border that includes 8 mobile hospital units, 10 ambulances, 38 doctors with a variety of specialties and material to reinforce the medical teams’ ability to be effective, especially in the Melenciano General Hospital in Jimaní and the Good Samaritan shelter where referrals and triage works is being carried out.

Along the border with Haiti, there are still 8 mobile ambulance units manned by personnel from the National Office for Emergencies and Disasters who have treated 612 patients for various types of trauma and have administered 8,000 diphtheria and tetanus vaccinations.

The Armed Forces have facilitated land transport and shipment of humanitarian aid to Haiti and has provided security for 10 convoys daily made up of an average of 60 vehicles in each one. They have also sent emergency rescue equipment and a security unit from Deproser which is providing services at the Dominican Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

As the operations continue, the supply air bridge continue to function at full capacity, having already made 46 emergency medical evacuations from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo and Santiago as well as 70 air assistance operations.

In terms of food aid, the President’s Social Plan continues distributing food for 300,000 people which provides food not only to the homeless but to the military missions and national and international aid organizations working in Haiti.

The Civil Defense, Dominican Red Cross and the Public Health Ministry are continuing to fly up 150 flights per day with medical supplies and all types of humanitarian relief to victims in need.

The official organizations in the water sector such as the National Institute of Potable Water and Sanitary Sewers and the Corporation of Aqueducts and Sewers of Santo Domingo (CAASD) have distributed, as of Friday January 22nd, 675,800 gallons of drinking water.

The CAASD is participating with five water trucks, each with a 10,000-gallon capacity and four trucks each with a 3,500 gallon-capacity. “Every day, starting at the break of dawn, the trucks not only carry water to the different areas affected by the quake, but they also take it to diplomatic offices and other institutions.”

NAPA authorized a water well to be dug in the San Miguel sector of Port-au-Prince which will provide Dominican government water trucks that are delivering the precious liquid in the neighboring country. The well produces approximately 1,000 gallons of water per day.

In Jacmel, war ships are transporting and distributing a thousand gallons daily. They transported 84 tanks of drinking water weighing 55-gallons each.

Other organizations involved in providing daily services to the quake victims include the Dominican Red Cross which has sent 3,000 bags of blood containing 500 cc in each bag.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is providing transportation from Santo Domingo to Jimaní and Civil Defense forces are providing support personnel in the hospitals of the southern region and 900 specialists in rescue operations especially in the cases of people trapped in confined spaces. They are also providing ground rescue, hospital care and the management of shelters.