Thursday, the response capabilities in the event of major natural events in Haiti were boosted after the U.S. Ambassador Pamela White and officials from the Embassy of the United States donated 12 vehicles and 12 watercraft of emergency response at a ceremony in Port-au-Prince.

The United States delivered 6 all-terrain, large cabin pick-up trucks; 6 20-foot, all-terrain cargo trucks; and a dozen 18-foot search and rescue boats, purchased under U.S. Southern Command’s Humanitarian Assistance Program to extend the response capacity of the Haitian authorities in case of crisis.

Representatives from Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security accepted the keys for the vehicles on behalf of Haitian National Police firefighters. The trucks will be used by the Haitian Volunteer Firefighter Association. They will complement the relief capabilities in 6 of 10 emergency operations centers (one per department), built by the United States.

The boats will be used by the country’s Civil Protection Directorate (DPC) to support Emergency Operation Centers and Relief Warehouses in the Artibonite, Centre, and North.

Recall that a team of 10 first responders from Haiti traveled to Pineville, La., January 6 to participate in a bilateral capacity-building exchange covering search and rescue boat operations and maintenance with subject matter experts from the Louisiana National Guard, the latest in a long series of engagements between the two under Louisiana’s state partnership with Haiti.

Previously, assistance to Haiti has been funded by the SOUTHCOM for over $ 29 million for projects such as the construction of 8 community clusters in Hatte, Desdunes, Torbeck, Les Cayes, Mandrin, Ecole Pont Gaudin, Abricot and in Jeremie Chateau to help the Haitian government support its citizens and provide essential services.

The clusters consist of a school, medical clinic, and a community center which serves also as a refuge that has a water well. USSOUTHCOM also constructed primary preparedness facilities, including 10 emergency operations centers, 10 relief warehouses and 12 fire stations.

HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre