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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices
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To: TimF who wrote (546003)1/25/2010 4:57:07 PM
From: tejek  Read Replies (1) of 1578100
 
Some problems they are having in Haiti

1. Since many financial institutions are closed, transport is difficult, and people don't all have their papers (fear of theft also may be an issue), it is almost impossible to receive remittances, which account for more than one-quarter of the country's gdp.

2. The current makeshift shelters are not robust to rain and storms and the rainy season is starting in May. Rain also brings a greater risk of various diseases.

This is a huge problem. Some of it will be alleviated by a huge shipment of tents that are supposed to house 400k people. The homeless problem in Port au Prince will also be alleviated by the very nature of the Haitian culture....it is still an agrarian economy. Many homeless have melted back into the countryside. This affords Haiti the opportunity of relocating the capital away from Port-of-Prince and away from the large fault on which it rests.

4. The party with the ability to make things happen -- the U.S. military -- isn't formally in charge and is sensitive to bad publicity.

The military has been screwing up when it comes to the flights they are letting into the airport and getting supplies out to the people. The former may be due to political intervention; the latter I don't know.

7. It's by no means clear that the aftershocks are over and there is even some chance of a bigger quake to come. This also discourages aid efforts and the construction of more permanent shelter.

That's my major concern. When the aftershocks are almost as big as the original quake, then there is a good possibility they are foreshocks of a much bigger quake to come.

8. Outside of some parts of Port-Au-Prince and immediate environs, external aid is barely underway yet damage is extensive.

9. It is not clear that the upcoming planting season -- which starts in March -- will proceed in an orderly fashion. One-third of the country's population is living at loose ends and most of the country's infrastructure is destroyed. For the planting season many Haitian farmers need seeds, fertilisers, livestock feed and animal vaccines. That planting season accounts for sixty percent of Haiti's agricultural output.

10. Before a limb can be amputated, some doctors have to first go to the market and buy a saw.

Those aren't the only problems.

This is probably the worst disaster in history......at least in the Americas.
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