Haiti quake catastrophe poses unprecedented relief problems: UN
By DPA, IANSSaturday, January 16, 2010
GENEVA - The massive earthquake on Haiti has confronted United Nations’ relief organisations with unprecedented problems in trying to cope with the catastrophe, UN humanitarian officials said Saturday.
UN Coordination office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told DPA in Geneva: “We have never been confronted with such a situation above all concerning the logistical problems.”
She added, “and we are not getting any kind of support - above all from the side of the state.”
This means the aid organisations have been confronted with problems never before experienced. At least even in the tsunami disaster in Asia in late 2004 there were at least not such logistical problems.
“We cannot access any state infrastructure and must start virtually from scratch,” Byrs said.
