Haiti: The Horrors Have Begun.

March 21, 2010 (LPAC)—President Obama will be as hated a figure internationally now, as in the United States, given the unfolding events in Haiti, where Friday's heavy rains—the worst since the Jan. 12 earthquake—are bringing unspeakable misery to hundreds of thousands in Port-au-Prince, whom Obama refused to help by re-locating them to safe ground before the rainy season. An Associated Press photo taken in one of the homeless camps in Port-au-Prince (AP, Ramon Espinosa) has become the signature scene in media the world over. It shows a barefoot young girl, wading through a flooded alleyway in a camp of makeshift blue-tents.

The size of U.S. forces in Haiti is now at 6,600 troops (4,300 on the ground, and 2,300 on Navy vessels off the coast), way down from 20,000 at the peak, and below what could and must be deployed, in an Army Corps of Engineers-led operation, to set up camps on safe ground and launch CCC-type infrastructure to rebuild the nation.

That not done, the March 19 "Situation Report" of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) depicts the sanitation/hygiene/health nightmare in which the over 1.3 million Haitians (260,300 families) have been left to die:

* Only some 12% have received mosquito nets, 15% will have them presumably shortly when those "in progress" are added in, but even with the nets depicted as "in pipeline" are added to that, the total covered reaches only 20%, with the rainy season and its mosquito-vectored dengue/malaria at hand.

* Nearly 60% of those 1.3 million-plus have received a bucket or Jerry can (for water). Soon, almost 80% are to have a bucket—presuming "in progress" proceeds. Just under 70% have received a hygiene kit (soap, etc.), rising to 75% with "in progress" added in. But will they have clean water to put in that bucket or with which to use the soap?

* The number of latrines installed remains at 4,209 of the initial target for 11,000, and that latter was based on a preliminary standard of one latrine for every 100 people. In over half the sites, the OCHA reports that these primitive latrines are only being partially used, because of "inappropriate set-up," that is, they have no privacy, no gender separation, no sitting facilities, etc. 33% of the 460 identified encampments still have NO latrines.

* Only 10% have received mats on which to sleep, and combining those "in progress" and "in pipeline" only reaches 15% of those 1.3+ million people left to sleep in mud. Kitchen sets have been handed out to 18% or so, with under 40% projected to be covered once in progress and in pipeline are distributed. Just over 40% have received blankets; adding in the category described as "in progress," the figure rises to a grand 60%, and "in pipeline" only takes coverage up to under 75%.

* 25% have been given rope with which to "secure" their tarps or plastic sheeting, called shelter; 5% have received "tool kits," and less than 10% will be covered when current plans (in progress and pipeline) are added in.

The Feb. 22 call by Lyndon LaRouche, for evacuating people out of the high-risk zones, and for launching infrastructure-building, will be circulated even more widely, in the countdown now underway to the March 31 New York City ministerial-level event, co-hosted by the U.N. and by the United States, "International Donors' Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti." This week in Washington, D.C., the Organization of American States is hosting a 3-day pre-meeting (March 21-23), on "Haitian Diaspora Forum: Contributing to a Strategic Plan for Reconstruction and Development in Haiti."

More: http://www.larouchepac.com/node/13949