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January 14, 2013

Haiti Marks Quake's 3-Year Anniversary 
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Haiti marked the three-year anniversary on Saturday of the devastating
earthquake that killed roughly 300,000 people and left more than 1.5
million homeless in what was already the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere. In tent camps housing the displaced, Haitian residents said
international donors have left them behind.

Clautaire Fenel: "My message to the international donors is that the
money they gave to help the people in Haiti is being put to use for the
interest of other people instead. It is used to buy luxury cars, pay for
hotels and go to high-priced restaurants paid in U.S. dollars."

Eunice Eliassaint: "I don't see a future here. I can't hide anything
from you. There is no tomorrow. Last night, the children went to bed
without anything to eat."

Appearing in Haiti to mark the anniversary, former President Bill
Clinton, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, was questioned about U.N.
responsibility for the post-earthquake cholera epidemic that has killed
nearly 8,000 people. Some 450,000 Haitians have also been sickened since
the cholera outbreak erupted in October 2010, apparently brought over by
U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal.
bq. Bill Clinton: "We have to speed up some of the infrastructure, we
have to repair the agriculture, we got to build more houses. We've got
to get people out of those tents. 
bq. Reporter: "What about cholera? Should the UN be liable for all those
cholera deaths?"
bq. Bill Clinton*: "That's a decision someone else has to make. I think
the most important thing is that the UN asked Paul Farmer to oversee the
response. We've got the infection and mortality rate cut in half. And I
think it can be contained. So I'm encouraged by that."

 

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