15. 03. 10. - 13:00

Red Cross to provide shelter for 1,500 Haitians

Salzburg Red Cross chief Anton Holzer said on Saturday his organisation would build a "Salzburg settlement" in earthquake-devastated Haiti providing shelter for 1,500 people.

Holzer said the settlement near Leogane would cost 300,000 Euros and be built by Haitians themselves, who would be paid for their work. He appealed for public contributions.

He added that the settlement, to be build of wood, would provide accommodation for up to five people in each house and be ready in four to six weeks. The building material had already been contracted in the USA and would be shipped to Haiti, he said.

Holzer noted that the Red Cross was engaged in the largest assistance operation in its history in Haiti, where people were living in sub-human conditions.

Red Cross Herbert Wieser added: "I have already seen a lot, but the situation there is indescribable." He has just returned from a week in earthquake-stricken Haiti.

He said relief efforts had been concentrating on getting food and water to the needy but shelter was becoming an urgent need as the rainy season fast approached. "People do not want to return to their damaged accommodations," he noted.

Children, he said, had been particularly affected as many had lost both parents.

Lower Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Governor Erwin Pröll announced last week that the province would contribute 500,000 Euros to Haitian earthquake relief.

He said Hilfswerk Austria International and health-care firm Vamed would share 400,000 Euros for construction of a prefabricated, mobile out-patient clinic in Haiti and Catholic charity Caritas and the Austrian Red Cross would receive 25,000 Euros apiece.

Pröll added that the contribution was appropriate given the size of the province and the provincial government would monitor how the money was spent.

The Red Cross, Caritas, CARE charity, Licht für die Welt, the Agriculture Chamber and the Workers’ Samaritan Federation have set up accounts for donations to help Haiti earthquake victims, which can be made to:

CARE: PSK 1.236.000 (BLZ 60.000) – password: "Haiti";

Caritas: PSK 7.700 004, (BLZ 60.000) – password: "Erdbeben Haiti",

Austrian Red Cross (Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz): PSK: 2.345.000 (BLZ 60.000) - password: "Erdbeben Haiti";

Licht für die Welt: PSK 92.011.650 (BLZ 60.000) - password: "Haiti-Aufbauhilfe";

Agriculture Chamber: PSK account 90.311.400 (BLZ 60.000).

Workers’ Samaritan Federation: PSK 00001-834-000 (BLZ 60000) - password: "Erdbebenhilfe Haiti."

The Red Cross’s new account for donations for the Salzburg settlement described above is:
Red Cross: PSK: 2.460.632 (BLZ 20.404) – password: "Erdbeben Haiti."