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21 January 2010

Earthquake in Haiti: The Pearl of the Caribbean

A new tragedy has occurred in the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere. On Tuesday 12 January 2010 at 16:53:09 local time Haiti was hit by an earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was close to the town of Léogâne, which is located 15 kilometre south-west of the capitol Port-au-Prince.

The earthquake, which was also identifiable in Venezuela and some of the neighbouring islands, has completely disrupted the country. The effects are tremendous and can still not be incalculable. Estimates are that between 100.000 to 200.000 of people did not survive this disaster, and hundreds of thousands of people have suffered injuries and are left without a roof over their heads. Other estimates, for example by the Red Cross, mention that more than 3 million people are currently being affected in one way or the other. The earthquake, which has been formally recognized as a humanitarian catastrophe, is one of the many disasters that has hit the country in the past decades.

The lives and livelihoods of the Haitians are completely disrupted. Everyone is affected in one way or the other. The fragile infrastructure has been destroyed. The government is not competent to deal with a catastrophe of this size. And fears are growing that due to lack of food, water, and sanitation the health situation will further deteriorate, very probably leading to even more victims.  In short, the country is completely paralyzed.

Many initiatives are currently organized by NGO’s, companies, the media, and individuals. Among them many member-organizations of the WOW. They are all trying to do their utmost to help our colleagues in Haiti. This is truly heart-warming.

President of the Latin-American federation FELATRACS, Roberto Mejía Alarcón, stated that Ramon Peguero Cornielle from FELATRACS is looking for contacts within Haiti. Two other colleagues - José Castro and Walter Sanchez Silva - from the Dominican Republic have travelled by bus to Haiti to see in what way they can be of assistance. It is supposed that they are in Port-au-Prince now.

Various member-organizations of the Latin-American banking-federation FELATRABS are organizing campaigns to collect money. FELATRABS president, José Jesus Trabulo de Sousa, declared that these member-organizations will transfer the collected amounts of money to their particular embassies in Haiti.

In Europe there are also many initiatives to support our fellow Haitians. KRIFA from Denmark have inquired how they can support our colleagues in Haiti. In The Netherlands and in Belgium various radio-stations and television-stations are organizing evenings to collect as much money as possible. All in all everyone is doing their utmost to contribute the best way they can. They deserve and need our support. Not only now and in the coming weeks, but for months and years to come.

The secretariat of the WOW will be in constant contact with the member-organizations. FELATRACS president, Roberto Mejía Alarcón, has asked to be alert so that we can give support to our Haitian colleagues when they ask us to.

We, the World Organization of Workers, want to express our solidarity to the people of Haiti, we want to express our condolences to those who have lost relatives and friends and we wish them a lot of strength and perseverance in the weeks, months and years to come.