Logistics of bringing in aid a nightmare, says UN official

THE INTERIM head of the UN force in Haiti has described the logistical effort of bringing aid to its people as a “nightmare”, but insisted the security situation was now under control.

Edmond Mulet, the Guatemalan diplomat who took interim charge of the UN peacekeeping force after the head of mission, Hédi Annabi, was killed in last week’s earthquake, said that after some initial confusion, UN and US forces had agreed on their respective roles in the disaster zone.

“It’s a nightmare,” Mr Mulet said of the logistical issues. “The airport is very small and has only one runway. The city’s two most important ports were destroyed. We have a shortage of fuel. We are now bringing convoys from the Dominican Republic, but the airport at Santo Domingo is over-flowing.”

He hoped the situation would improve with the arrival from the US today of a floating port allowing containers to be brought ashore near Port-au-Prince.

In an interview with the French daily Le Monde, Mr Mulet said UN and US forces had agreed on their responsibilities, with his troops taking charge of security alongside Haitian police, and the US military concentrating on aid distribution. “But we can also ask them for assistance with security – it’s part of our agreement,” he added.

“At the beginning, we didn’t know what their mandate was. But we have established a constructive and respectful working climate with the American ambassador and the generals on the ground, who say they are here to support us. I think their contribution is genuine,” Mr Mulet remarked.

At the US-controlled airport in Port-au-Prince, he said, there was now a full-time UN representative who was charged with “establishing priorities” each day. “If a plane is bringing a contribution we don’t immediately need, we’ll give priority to another plane. That has nothing to do with politics or with the flag of an approaching plane.”

Earlier this week, France’s minister for international co-operation, Alain Joyandet, asked the UN to “clarify” the US role at the airport after air traffic controllers refused landing permission to a French aid aircraft.

On reports of looting and violence in Port-au-Prince, Mr Mulet said he believed the security situation was now under control and that the Haitian people were “behaving in a very responsible way”. He criticised some media coverage of looting incidents.

“Certain parts of the press were irresponsible and created an image of Haiti and Port-au-Prince after the earthquake that helped neither the Haitians nor the people working here. There were incidents, robberies, looting, but they were isolated cases. Bandits didn’t take control of the city.”

The UN mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, lost at least 49 of its members when its headquarters collapsed in the earthquake.