The FINANCIAL — European nations on January 18 pledged tens of millions more in reconstruction aid for Haiti, hoping to reach over 100 million euros, to help the quake-ravaged nation recover from an epic disaster.
European Union development ministers meeting in Brussels also discussed the launch of a security mission to Haiti to help maintain law and order amid the chaos caused by people desperate to get food and water.
"The aid will be greater than 100 million euros (144 million dollars)," said a top EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, with a diplomat adding: "The final amount could even go above 200 million euros."
International aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster in the Caribbean island nation, where officials fear the final death toll could top 200,000.
A quarter of a million more were injured and 1.5 million left homeless in the wake of Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude quake.
The new EU funds will come from budgeted money not yet spent in other areas, and is distinct from emergency aid, of which EU nations have already provided some 20-30 million euros and which is also "expected to grow considerably," the diplomat said.
Britain itself trebled its humanitarian aid to 30 million dollars, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander announced.
"It is now clear that the international community is dealing with an almost unprecedented level of devastation," he said in a statement.
"The impact of this earthquake is magnified because it has hit a country that was already desperately poor and historically volatile."
France will release 10 million euros (14 million dollars) in emergency funds in response to a United Nations appeal, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday in Paris.
According to an initial EU damage assessment, more than 4,000 physical structures were destroyed or damaged in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
"But aid has been difficult to get into Haiti, given the number of planes and ships descending on the country to help, while people in need have no way of knowing where to go to find the food and water they so badly need," EU informs.
Another 7,500 US military personnel were expected by Monday to join 5,800 US forces already on the ground or in ships off Haiti.
A US admiral said more humanitarian aid was coming through Guantanamo, the US naval base in Cuba, every day.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said the United Nations had asked the EU to provide logistical support for ships laden with emergency supplies and helicopters to help unload aid.
He also said the world wanted Brussels to provide "police units to protect the aid distribution and prepare the roads with military engineers," a demand ministers discussed at their talks in Brussels.
Britain's development aid secretary Michael Foster, at the meeting, said his "understanding is that the US has some 10,000 troops on the ground in Haiti, and that should be more than enough," as a security mission.
But France's development minister Alain Joyandet said about a thousand members of a rarely-deployed European rapid reaction police force could be sent in. This body groups gendarmes from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania.
"This tragedy will require all of us, all across the world, to put in significant effort to support this country and that is what we're going to do," said EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton in Brussels.
"We're looking with the UN at any request they make to us. There is really an issue about public order and we've asked the UN to let us know of contributions that they would like us to consider."
Ashton, who travels to New York on Wednesday for meetings with US and UN officials, said there was no question of "swamping the system," stressing "the big logistical questions."
She underlined: "You can't just walk in and dump aid, you have to plan, to do it properly to make sure it reaches everyone."
Another EU diplomat said the bloc is also likely to back calls for an international reconstruction conference on Haiti to be held under the auspices of the UN and the World Bank.
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