US donates trucks, boats to Haitian disaster relief

On Thursday, 16 January 2014, the response capabilities of Haiti in the event of major natural disaster was enhanced when the U.S. Ambassador Pamela White accompanied by other officials from U.S Embassy in a handover ceremony in the capital city, donated 12 transport vehicles and 12 watercrafts to Haitian Emergency Response and Civil Protection Agencies. The transport vehicles include six 20-foot, all-terrain cargo trucks, six all-terrain, large cabin pick-up trucks. The watercrafts delivered include twelve 18-foot search and rescue boats.

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These trucks and boats were purchased under U.S. Southern Command's Humanitarian Assistance Program to extend Haiti's emergency response capabilities in life-threatening and natural disasters crises. The Haitian representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security accepted the keys of the vehicles on behalf of country's National Police firefighters. The trucks will be used by the Association of Haitian Volunteer Firefighter and these will be added to their existing fleet of disaster relief capabilities in six of the ten Emergency Units built under U.S assistance program for strengthening Haiti's disaster response system.

The boats were intended for the use of the country's Civil Protection Directorate to support Emergency Disaster Relief Operation Centers and Warehouses in the departments at Artibonite, Centre, and Nord in the central and northern region. A team of ten Haitian responders travelled to Pineville, La., on January 6, to take part in a bilateral capacity-building exchange program on mastering the techniques of search and rescue operations and art of proper maintenance from the experts of Louisiana National Guard.

Previously U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has funded Haiti with more than $29 million for constructing eight community clusters projects to provide essential services to the affected citizens like medical clinics, schools, and a community center that doubles as shelter and water well. USSOUTHCOM also constructed twelve fire houses, ten emergency operations centers, ten disaster relief warehouses and facilities for emergency primary disaster preparedness.

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Read more: United States, Disaster, Emergency, Pamela A. White, Disaster

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