Nicole C.Lee, Esq, President of TransAfrica Forum available for interviews

Almost a week after a devastating earthquake in Haiti aid agencies are complaining to TransAfrica that there are huge procedural obstacles to getting food, water and medicine to the people outside of Port-au-Prince. Doctors Without Borders is reporting that the arrival of a twin-theatre inflatable hospital has been delayed because one of the planes carrying it did not get permission to land at Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday and was re-routed to the Dominican Republic.  In an email conversation with an aid worker, the President of TransAfrica was told, “…they only have control of the PAP airport, that the rest of Haiti's airspace is still technically under the control of the Haitian authorities. However, it sure seems to me that this authority has broken down.”

Nicole Lee says, “Violence is the natural end result when people are denied food, water and medical help. The stench in the streets from dead bodies, the horror of screaming people are trapped and dehydration will send the population spinning out of control. What do we tell them when we have the ability to ease their pain but the world is stuck on political procedure?”

Nicole is a human rights attorney who lived in Haiti. She is now President of TransAfrica Forum, a U.S. based policy organization dedicated to the betterment of Africa and its Diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America. She spent the weekend on the phone helping with aid workers in Haiti attempting to assist them through the procedure or mechanical obstacles to getting help.

For more information or to schedule interviews please contact Joia Nuri  jnuri@transafricaforum.org.