OAS member nations donate $170 million to Haiti

MEXICO: The member nations of the Organization of American States (OAS) have so far donated a total of 170 million U.S. dollars to quake-struck Caribbean nation Haiti, the OAS’s regional office in Mexico City said Saturday.

“Combining humanitarian and financial assistance, the member states have donated a total of 170 million dollars, 208 tons of humanitarian aid, in addition to large numbers of doctors and search and rescue workers,” Oscar Maurtua, OAS ambassador to Mexico, told Radio Red.

He added that the OAS general secretary’s office has already allocated 100,000 dollars for coordinating rescue work by creating an information office to provide latest information on rescue work and help raise more funds.

Maurtua, a Peruvian, spoke highly of the region’s response to the magnitude-7.3 quake which battered Haiti on Tuesday, saying that the Inter-American Development Bank has already donated 200,000 dollars to Haiti and 500 pieces of trauma repair equipment.

He added that the bank has also allocated 330 million dollars to Haiti, which will be disbursed soon to fund high-priority civil works.

Mexico City, Sunday, Xinhua