Haiti GOVT Info Bulletin - Important Summary

A public information bulletin has been released by the Haitian government summarizing the impact of the January 12 earthquake. It is in French and includes statistics related to death toll, injury and displacement related to the quake; plans and request related to temporary resettlement of Haitians in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, information related to other cities; and advice for citizens related to the risk of future earthquakes and assessments of structural damage to buildings. It also included information related to current economic factors, reopening of banks, and information relevant to conditions and challenges in smaller cities.

The bulletin notes that President Preval has requested urgent delivery by the international community of 200,000 family size tents, and 36 million food rations to help feed 1.5 million people.


Selected major information and suggestions include :

-- Environ 112 200 morts, 195 000 blessés, 1 million de sans abris, la moitié des maisons détruites à Port‐au‐Prince, 
Jacmel et Léogane ; au moins 23 centres hospitaliers privés effondrés.

Around 112,000 dead, 195,000 wounded, 1 million homeless, half the houses destroyed in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and Leogane; at least 23 private hospitals collapsed.


-- Le gouvernement a annoncé hier la création de 2 camps pour les personnes déplacées de Port‐au‐Prince: l'un sur 
la route de Tabarre et l'autre à la Croix des Bouquets.  Un autre site a été identifié dans 
la zone de Léogane. 


The government yesterday announced the creation of 2 camps for displaced persons in Port-au-Orince: one on the road to Tabarre, the other at Croix des Bouquets. Another site has been identified in the zone of Leogane.

-- Un communiqué de presse de l’United State Geological Survey (USGS) publié le 21 janvier 2010 présente une estimation de l’activité des  répliques  pour  les  trente  prochains.  Selon  ce  communiqué,  la  probabilité  d’un  ou  plusieurs  séismes  de 
magnitude 7 ou supérieure surviennent est moins de 3% ; un ou plusieurs séisme(s) de magnitude 6 ou plus, est 
de 25% ; un ou plusieurs séismes de magnitude 5 ou plus,  est d’environ 90%. Approximativement 2 ou 3 
répliques de magnitude 5 ou supérieure sont attendues pendant cette période de temps.

A United States Geological Survey (USGS) published 21 January 2010 offers an estimate of quake activity for the next 30. According to this communique, the probability of one or more earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater is less than 3%; one or more earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more is 25%; one or more magnitude 5 or more is around 90%. Approximately 2 or 3 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater are expected during this period of time.


-- Seuls des ingénieurs qualifiés peuvent déterminer si un bâtiment endommagé est sûr et peut être 
réoccupé. La règle à tenir tant que les ingénieurs ne sont pas sur place la suivante : si un bâtiment n’a pas l’air 
sûr, c’est qu’il ne l’est pas. 

Only qualified engineers can determine if a damaged building is sound enough to be recoccupied. The rule to follow until an engineer has evaluated a property is: if the building doesn't look sound, it isn't.

--Aujourd’hui 24 janvier, on estime que la capacité de distribution de l’aide alimentaire varie entre 200 000 à  
300 000 rations par jour. Ce qui veut dire que, seulement à Port‐au‐Prince et ses environs, plus de 800 000 
personnes ne peuvent être satisfaites. C’est le principal défi. 

Today, we estimate the capacity of food distribution varies between 200,000 and 300,000 rations a day. This means that, in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings alone, over 800,000 people will not be reached. This is the major challenge.

Other:

The government is opposed to precipitous adoptions and uncontrolled departures from Haiti of vulnerable or orphaned children and is concerned about the risk of trafficking.


NGOs engaged in humanitarian or food aid are encouraged to work with the UN system that has been established.