Situation Report - 31 July 2010

Content

Highlights

• A new storage compound is in the process of being developed in Leogane, the location of the epicentre of January’s earthquake. “Hand on Disaster Response” (HoDR), an international NGO, located and leased suitable land. WFP and the Logistics Cluster are collaborating with HoDR to look at developing this project by offering its assistance and expertise (engineering works and infrastructure equipment).
• A table top exercise, based on a possible natural disaster scenario in Gonaives, took place from 20 to 22 July. The objective of the exercise was to test information flow between agencies, decision triggers for the activation of Regional and National DPC Operation Centers, Regional Joint Operations Center (RJOC), Expanded Joint Operations Center (EJOC), as well as roles and responsibilities of these centers and participating partners during a crisis.

Weather

• With early weather forecasts predicting a much more intense hurricane season (01 June to 30 November) than last year, and following the earthquake in January this year, which claimed the lives of around 230,000 and displaced approximately one million people, the country is now even more vulnerable to natural disasters.
• With the beginning of the rainy season the possibility of significant flooding in low lying areas with inadequate drainage systems and mudslides are also very probable, especially on deforested slopes.
• The tropical Atlantic remains quiet in the wake of Tropical Storm Bonnie which brought heavy rains to the island in the third week of July. No major damage, flooding or injuries were reported.

Security

• Haiti continues in UN Security PHASE 3. The overall security environment has remained stable and been characterized by a low level of criminality, however kidnappings and cases of rape continue to be of concern.
• Demonstrations have taken place during the month throughout the country. Most of them have been peaceful with minor incidences occurring.

Logistics Coordination

• The Logistics Cluster continues with fortnightly meetings on Tuesdays at the Log Base in the OCHA/OSOOC tent. Main topics presented include transport updates (air, sea, surface), hubs and warehouse updates and emergency preparedness activities. The meeting attracts an average of 40 participants.

• Recent updates include:

  • DASHBOARD – Overview of Cargo Deliveries ex Port-au-Prince: http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/deliveries-overview/view
  • Updated Facts and Figures: http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/facts-and-figures/view

Transportation

Road

• During the last 30 days the Logistics Cluster common cargo movement service has transported more than 1,030 mt ex Port-au-Prince to a variety of destinations. Since the beginning of the operations, 88 percent of the cargo has been moved via land and 12 percent by air. For more details see the Transport Dashboard: http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/deliveries-overview.
  • 21 different Organizations have used the Cluster transportation services this month, for a total of 101 users since the beginning of the emergency operations.
• The Logistics Cluster is receiving more requests to move bigger and heavier cargo (e.g. transitional shelter items), reflecting the shift in humanitarian operations.

Sea

• Since 21 June a 1,500 mt barge, chartered for an initial period of three months, provides a viable alternative to road transport for the humanitarian response programmes. In case of road failure, access to affected areas will be possible via sea to northern and southern coastal areas. The barge is planned to perform a northbound voyage from Port-au-Prince calling at St Marc, Gonaives, Port de Paix and Cap Haitien. The southbound voyage from Port-au-Prince would call at Miragoane, Jeremie, Les Cayes and Jacmel. For more info please refer to http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/snapshot-costal-service/view.
• The barge completed its fourth journey from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo on 28 July, where it will be fully loaded again to further clear the backlog at Caucedo seaport. It will be carrying 47 containers, which include 22 of Thai donated rice for Port-au-Prince and 25 containers of Maize Meal which possibly will travel further to Gonaives. Depending on cargo movement requirements, within the next weeks the barge is expected to perform the previously announced northbound and southbound voyages from Port-au-Prince, as the voyages between the two countries will be completed.

Air

• UNHAS assets:
  • One aircraft, LET 410, 19-seater, is available since 25 June 2010 for humanitarian passenger transport capacity and operates between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo. It can also carry 1.7 mt of cargo and can be utilized for medical evacuations.
  • One aircraft, Cessna Caravan (12-seater) has been based in Port-au-Prince since 13 June 2010 and now serves locations within Haiti.
  • Six organizations have used the air cargo services in July (4 NGOs and 2 UN). 65.6 mt of relief items have been dispatched to 13 different locations.
  • One Mi-171 helicopter with a 3 mt capacity can deliver to inaccessible areas.

Hubs - Infrastructure and Storage

• The Logistics Cluster has one temporary storage facility available in Port-au-Prince and located near the international airport. The warehouse (WH2) is managed by Handicap International/Atlas Logistique (HIAL) and has a capacity of 3,000m3, 70 percent of the capacity is currently in use.

• The Logistics Cluster has also longer term storage outside Port-au-Prince, on the road to the Jimani border crossing: WH3 is a self managed, 2 hectares of warehouse/transit hub which is operational as a site for organizations to set up and manage their own MSUs. As of 30 July 2010, the capacity is nearly full.

• A new storage compound is in the process of being developed in Leogane, the location of the epicentre of January’s earthquake. “Hand on Disaster Response” (HoDR), an international NGO, located and leased suitable land. WFP and the Logistics Cluster are collaborating with HoDR to look at developing this project by offering its assistance and expertise (engineering works and infrastructure equipment). Currently eight organisations committed to using the facility and will manage their own items and storage area. Total storage capacity is up to 2,500m3.

• 20 TSRs approved this month from 12 different organizations; a total of 40 organizations have used the Logistics Cluster facilities for storage since the beginning of operations.

Vehicle allocations

• Clinton Foundation:
  • The Allocation Committee, comprised of representatives from the Logistics Cluster, OCHA, the DPC, the Ministère de la Planification, as well as an NGO focal point, convened on 13 July to discuss the allocation of the last batch of 20 Mitsubishi Diesel Light Trucks. The selected organisations will be contacted in the coming weeks.
  • Following-up on the many issues raised by several organizations whilst attempting to register the recently allocated Clinton Foundation vehicles, the following actions were taken:
    • WFP informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and transmitted a complete list of vehicles and the names of the organizations which are benefiting from the donation;
    • WFP contacted various national authorities in order to facilitate the registration and insurance;
    • A donation letter has been produced for each of the organizations granted a vehicle to further assist the process.
• MACK Dump Trucks:
  • Due to the amount of applications received from humanitarian partners for the WFP allocation of 5 MACK Dump Trucks, the Allocation Committee, which met on 02 July, decided, in order to maximise the use of the trucks, that WFP will manage the trucks for joint projects with other agencies who require heavy duty transport means (e.g “Food for Work” activities).

Civil Military Coordination

• The Logistics Cluster is part of the Joint Operations Tasking Centre (JOTC) alongside representatives of MINUSTAH, the US Military, the Canadian Military and OCHA which was established to optimize the use of military assets in support of the humanitarian operation. Through the JOTC, the Logistics Cluster has received key heavy machinery support from MINUSTAH (South Korean and Sri Lanka Army) for a joint Logistics Base project in Leogane which will ultimately result in the development of several acres of surfaced land and the construction of over 140,000 square feet of new multi-use workshops.
• The Logistics Cluster is taking part in a Table Top Exercise based on a scenario for a natural disaster event scheduled in Gonaives from 20 to 22 July. The objective of the exercise is to test information flow between agencies, decision triggers for the activation of Regional and National DPC Operation Centers, Regional Joint Operations Center (RJOC), Expanded Joint Operations Center (EJOC), as well as roles and responsibilities of these centers and participating partners during a crisis. Participants included Logistics Cluster and WFP staff members from Gonaives, Jacmel and Port au Prince, DPC, OCHA and MINUSTAH.
• A meeting on Communications was held between the Logistics Cluster and the Communication section of MINUSTAH to address communication challenges identified during the table top exercise in Gonaives. Among the main issues discussed: interfacing of radio communications networks, email systems inter-operability, organization of training sessions. Furthermore, it was agreed that ETC and MINUSTAH CITS would take a lead in developing required protocols and SOPs for radio-rooms in order to organize the flow of information, establish communication links and emergency calls procedures.

Emergency preparedness

• The Logistics Cluster is part of the Inter Cluster/Inter Agency Emergency Response Team (ERT). The ERT is designed to assist the humanitarian actors operating in Haiti in meeting the needs for early and qualified information sharing, coordination and relief during the first phase of an emergency at national and at field level. The Logistics Cluster is also part of the “Critical Incident Response Team” (CIRT) led by OCHA with the participation of: one representative of the Haitian Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC), two civil engineers, one doctor (WHO), one UN police officer (UNPOL), one civil-military officer (MINUSTAH – U9 CIMIC), one logistician (WFP). The team is ready to be deployed on call to conduct an initial multi-sectoral/multi-agency needs assessment, evaluate the situation and coordinate the initial 24 hours of the emergency response.
• The Logistics Cluster has created a section within the Haiti operations page on the Logistics Cluster website dedicated to Emergency Preparedness and has uploaded key resourcing documents (http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/docs?theme=preparedness).
• The Department of Civil Protection (DPC) shared a draft of the National Contingency Plan for 2010 with the Logistics Cluster for review. Feedback was provided to the DPC for sections related to logistics.
• The complexity and scale of any natural disasters requires close coordination between different actors. The Logistics Cluster and the Shelter Cluster have been holding meetings to examine possible areas of coordination and cooperation in terms of emergency preparedness and response during the ongoing hurricane season in Haiti.
• Six newly purchased hurricane-proof warehouses, part of WFP/Logistics Cluster contingency preparedness measures, are currently being dispatched by sea and expected in Port-au-Prince on 9 August.
• ICT fly away kits have been pre-positioned in Cap-Haitien, Jacmel and Gonaives; they include sat-phones, BGAN terminals, hand-held radios, GPSs and some other IT equipment. Pre-positioning of NFIs is on-going.

GIS - Roads Status Monitoring (RSM) and Logistics Infrastructure mapping

• The GIS team presented the GeoPortal, a web-based mapping platform designed by the Logistics Cluster to provide critical logistics information and data in a timely manner, to 36 GIS and Information Management staff in Port-au-Prince from various Organisations and Clusters, as well as from the Centre National de l’Information Géo-Spatiale (CNIGS) and MINUSTAH. The GeoPortal was also presented at the inter-cluster Information Management meeting and on 2 August will be presented at the next Logistics Cluster meeting.
• Five National staff have been trained in SDI-T data collection and processing by the GIS team. They signed a 2 months SSA contract and since 29 July have been deployed strategically in Jacmel, Les Cayes, Gonaives, Hinche and Cap Haitien to conduct infrastructure assessments until the end of the hurricane season.
• Geo-referenced aerial photography is being overlaid on maps.
• Warehouse asset maps have been produced as a preparedness measure.
• Latest updated maps are available on the website (http://www.logcluster.org/ops/hti10a/docs?doctype=Maps%20%26%20Geograph) and include:
  • Emergency Preparedness – Propositioning overview
  • Logistics Cluster Warehouses
  • Partner warehouses
  • Port-au-Prince road overview
  • Road condition, Port-au-Prince –Miragoane
  • Road conditions, Miragoane – Les Cayes – L’Asile – Anse a Veau
  • Road conditions, Les Cayes – Jeremie
  • Shelter Locations in Gonaives
  • UNHAS air operation