Nepal not responsibile for Haiti cholera outbreak
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The Nepali peacekeepers are not responsible for the cholera outbreak in Haiti, and the blames on the Nepali servicemen are baseless, said Col. Ratindra Khatri, Nepali Contingent Commander at United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
He made the remarks in response to rumors carried out by some media suspecting contingent peacekeepers from Nepal to be the source of the epidemic in Haiti.
"The five tests which have been conducted so far on the Nepali peacekeepers after the blames of the outbreak have not found a single case of the disease inside the battalion camps and it is a strong proof that we are not responsible for carrying the disease to Haiti," Col. Khatri told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Haiti, which was hit by a massive earthquake in January 2010, has been hugely distressed after the cholera outbreak in October. At least 1,200 people have died and thousands others have been affected by the disease.
The Nepali army battalion has its base in the northern town of Cap Haitian, where the disease is believed to have spread.
"The locals have been blaming us because of the fact that our base is located in the area of the outbreak and because there are cases of cholera still seen in Nepal. But that is unjustifiable because none of the troops from inside the camps has the virus," Col. Khatri said.
"It is now an established fact that the Haitian National laboratory, UN Laboratory as well as various laboratories in Santa Domingo carried out test of the samples collected from around the Nepalese Battalion and could not find bacteria that causes cholera," he stressed.
"They have failed to acknowledge the fact that October was the month of monsoon which saw heavy rainfalls in the region. Every eventful earthquake is followed by epidemic such as cholera because of mismanagement of dead bodies," he said.
"When dead bodies which are not well cremated or buried get decomposed, it can generate epidemic like cholera. It happened in Kivu lake in 1994 and in many other places," said Col. Khatri.
Millions of people had died and most of the houses had been destroyed in Haiti during the massive earthquake in January, making it one of the biggest disaster in the world history.
The debris of the earthquake has not yet been fully removed and millions of homeless people are still living in tents.
Asked if the Nepali army will have to remove its troops from the region, Col. Khatri said, "we have the support from the Force Commander and all the evidences are in our favor. So, we are very optimistic and focused on our responsibilities toward the peacekeeping mission in Haiti."
Nepal is among the 19 nations whose troops are serving in Haiti under the UN stabilization mission.
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